Comparative Xenobiology
by Fafee
Summary: Fighting for survival brings about a shift in priorities. Captain Janeway gets a lot more than she bargained for during an 'away mission' with a young Ensign, which was meant to be shore leave, but spirals entirely out of control. Told from Janeway's POV; J/OC;
1. Jungle

**Comparative Xenobiology**  
_written by **Fafee**_

**Synopsis:** Fighting for survival brings about a shift in priorities. Captain Janeway gets a lot more than she bargained for during an 'away mission' with a young Ensign, which was meant to be shore leave. _Told from Janeway's POV; J/OC;_

**Author's Notes::**  
\- Originally I wanted this to be a 'Good Shepherd' reimagination, but after 15 thousand words I realized I've only written about all the irrelevant stuff concerning the mission, so little of it what would be the subject matter. This is a _(complete)_rewrite, a distilled version, does **not** mean it's PWP, only more focused, so please excuse the convenient random spatial anomaly throwing a shuttle _(with only the relevant characters on it)_ off course, directly to the one single place everything else can go wrong too.

\- OC Alert: The 'young Ensign' is an original character, from an original species.

\- Will contain consenting adults doing lewd stuff to one another, and one of them isn't human. If this bothers you, _GET OUT_. After such a warning I feel the need to mention that there will be plenty of thrills involving non-sexual themes as well, it's just that the general tendency to post long notices about lady parts getting involved in the mess of things with legal document type wording has finally managed to get to me. _(I failed at the wording part tho', didn't I?)_

\- I've worked on this a lot; **R&amp;R would be greatly appreciated.**

**DISCLAIMER::** This will come as a shock, I know, but I didn't create Star Trek. This work of fiction borrows characters and technologies from Star Trek: Voyager, and I promise to give them back fed and only slightly scathed.

**std::endl; **

* * *

_**Chapter ~1~ :: Jungle**_

_**.**_

Strange feeling, when your ability to draw a breath and open your eyes comes as a surprise. A few images flashed through my vision, but above all I remembered my conviction that this would be the end of the line. My entire left side was covered in dark dust, burn marks, the window ahead had more cracks in it than stars in the sky, but remained in its place. The interfaces blank, a single panel blinking to my right, in front of... Oh God, the Ensign... Turning my neck felt as though it was the trunk of a tree, but I forced the issue against the pain.

Her head slumped towards me, her face was covered by her hair. Covered in dust and rubble the same way I was, the twin of the same conduit must've ruptured on that side as well.  
\- " Ensign.. " - I tried to speak up, raising my arm, the word barely came out, I couldn't feel my fingers. Clearing my throat sharply, a wave of violent coughs spread over me, the inability to take a proper, deep breath reminded me about the safety straps still encasing my torso, and the pain they caused.

Control of my body, my extremities slowly regained, I freed myself, getting up, grabbing whatever I could to stay upright.  
\- " Ensign! " - if she didn't wake from the coughs, why would she from a weakened voice? I put a hand on her neck instead, trying to feel for her pulse, she must've a jugular somewhere near the same spot, right? I couldn't find it fast enough to avoid the cringe of assuming the worst paralyze half my body, but it was there. She was alive.

Taking my next breath felt like poison, there was smoke in the upper segment of the cabin. Needed power systems back online for the air purification. Or I could've blown the hatch, but that needed a tricorder, there could be something worse out there than the smoke. Better to get the girl back online, I thought, she was sort of an engineer after all.

I leant against the consoles behind me, the entire shuttle felt a little tilted towards the front, and sideways to port. Cupping her cheek I carded the hair out of her face, no bloody wounds or anything, just her spots. Even in this numbed state some part of me didn't fail to point out how beautiful she was, the uniformly circular, dark as ink spots ran from above her temples down under her ears, joining on the back of her neck, continuing who knows how long down her spine.

\- " Ensign! " - I tapped her gently - " Wake up! " - telling people what to do usually works out. They don't call me Captain for nothing. After a few more tries she whimpered, her head moving on its own. She opened her eyes, they were large, alien, scary. No way to discern iris from pupil, just one big pitch dark globe, with a hint of bloodshot whiteness on the sides.  
\- " Captain.. " - she breathed, I lowered my arms to her shoulders.  
\- " Are you alright? "  
\- " We are alive.. " - indeed, my thoughts exactly.  
\- " Barely.. come on.. " - I started to fiddle with her straps, she tilted her head around, snuffling and squirming.  
As I freed her, _she leaned forward and up immediately, snaking her arms around me, pulling, assaulting my lips with her own. Rash and needy, she nibbled, her tongue_ \- No, that didn't happen. It would have been all I really wanted, I just didn't know at the time.

I lowered back into the edge of my seat as she glanced around, finding her bearings. I did the same, taking a good look at the back of the shuttle. We used to have equipment and supplies stacked there, they were now _everywhere_ in the cabin. The sturdy boxes and bags largely intact though. Turning back to the consoles I made the futile attempt of tapping at the blank displays, but alas, no sale.  
\- " Wonder what's left in one piece.. "  
She massaged her neck, taking a deep breath - " Let me see if I can get power.. "  
Yeees. Do stuff for me - I'm sure my outlook on the situation was much more grim at the time. If I wanted to be honest, words can barely describe how glad I was to have her there. Being alone in such a situation was truly the last thing I needed. She wasn't a bona fide engineer, she was from Security. Furthermore, she was part of the Red Squad contingent assigned to my ship when we've left for the Badlands. A special hands-on mission to further their training. They were soldiers, essentially. Lucky for me, her specialty was engineering, mostly concerning weapon systems of course, but the point is she knew her way around a hyperspanner.

She fetched the repair kit from the hind compartment, I heard the tricorder engage. To avoid looking useless, I lowered myself below the command interface, popping the cover panel, trying to see if the problem was localized. This was when I noticed the elevated temperatures, the hull must've still been scalding from our trip through the atmosphere, turning the shuttle into an oven. By the time I finished confirming that nothing was terribly burned on my end, climbing back to my chair, she was casually walking back to her console, tapping a few buttons.

In the next moment, the regular lighting came back online, some electrical revving sounded, the low rumble of the air vents starting up. I sighed with relief.  
\- " That was quick.. "  
She didn't so much look at me, rather through me, I could feel the red-uniform apartheid in her glare. Managing a complacent smile, she ducked, going below the front consoles on her side, removing a few more panels. I stepped behind my chair, gently kicking, grabbing and putting away the boxes and bags that flew free. Next I looked at her she was puffing, then doing something that made sparks fly, then sighing, about to get out.  
\- " Need something? "  
\- " Yeah.. " - she stopped and leaned back down - " Uhm, the phase decoupler, please. "  
I had a feeling she half-expected me to bring her the wrong instrument, however engineering matters weren't completely past me, I just didn't enjoy doing them. I liked to use machines, not fix them. A scientist, not a greasemonkey.

I handed her the decoupler, she tinkered for a minute or two, I fetched my tricorder in the meantime, creating a livable arrangement from the mess of things in the back. The environmental systems were doing their part, the air cleared out, I could feel the cold breeze from the vents.

The command console came back with a few beeps, the Ensign emerging from the depths. She sat down, doing diagnostics, I tried to look up the sensor log, figure out where exactly were we.  
\- " We are not going anywhere. " - she called out after a short while.  
\- " How bad? "  
\- " Well " - she glanced at the window - " I'm pretty sure that ain't space worthy anymore, and the port engine was destroyed, the plasma manifolds are deformed. "  
That didn't sound good - " Irreparable, I presume? "  
\- " Building a new shuttle would be easier Captain. "  
I nodded, sighing heavily - " The wave front threw us off-course by about 12 light years. "  
\- " 12 light years?! " - she exclaimed, looking at my consoles.  
\- " I'm afraid so. We are in a different system than we wanted to be. "  
\- " Will they be able to tell what happened? .. Find us? "  
\- " We have to assume they will. "  
She appeared less than thrilled by that, neither was I.  
\- " Where are we? I remember some green and blue.. "  
\- " M-class planet, outer temperature is 33 degrees, humidity 100%... atmosphere should be perfectly breathable, no toxins. "

She sighed, rubbing her face, I've decided to take initiative, moving to the back. I heard her follow, didn't exactly know what to expect on the other side of the hatch, although devastation was a safe bet. The seams hissed, the wet, warm air found its way inside immediately. A breath of dizziness coursed through me, 'hot' didn't even begin to describe what awaited us outside. Had to wait a painfully long time for the slightly bent beams to lower the door, but eventually our makeshift landing strip came into view. The scene was obliterated in a straight line, trees burnt and split apart, the ground itself torn asunder and covered in ashes. A few fires were still blinking here and there, otherwise it was all too quiet.

On both sides, an extremely lush jungle bristling with color. Crowns above crowns, vines hanging from above and growing from the ground, flowers with miniature and massive petals alike, most of it glistening, dripping with water. There was no end nor clearing in sight, just greens upon different greens, tree barks covered in dark moss. The smell was thick and poignant, mildly disturbing. I took a few deep breaths, processing the fact that we were officially stuck here for who knows how long. My traveling companion took position next to me, I glanced at her.

\- " Nice landing. "  
\- " Thank you.. " - I didn't think I earned the sarcasm, making this obvious in my tone.  
\- " No, I mean it Captain. " - she smiled - " I thought we were going to die. Not because of you, because of the situation. "  
The compliment felt pleasant, I remembered trying to point the nose to the sky as we got dangerously close to the ground, hoping the trees would slow us down... They did, the duratanium hull had to be thanked for the rest of it.

\- " Are you still happy you accompanied me, Ensign? "  
She folded her arms, shrugging - " Well.. " - her eyes as they were boring into mine were driving me crazy, they always have. Ensign Piper Perell was an unfortunately frequent guest of my ready room, and I usually didn't have many nice things to say, her stare... stare, she wasn't staring, it cannot be called a stare, simply her act of looking out of her skull, always unnerved me. It could be translated as the most honest lover's look, or the gaze of a cold blooded murderer, and everything inbetween, I found there was no way to read those large pitch dark spheres, they were too alien, shrouded in eternal mystery - " I do like an adventure Captain. "  
\- " Looks like we've found one. "  
\- " We've packed as well... Although you did mention a full feature spa, and a single, two day trip in a mild climate..? "  
I smirked, looking back out, fetching my tricorder - " Unfortunately I'm not picking up the spa.. "  
\- " Lifesigns? "  
\- " Too many to count. "  
\- " But.. "  
\- " Non-humanoid. "  
\- " I don't see anything. "  
\- " We must've landed with a bang, everything appears to have retreated to a safe distance. "  
\- " Anything big enough to eat us? " - she stepped right next to me, it was time to realize yet again how much taller than me Piper actually was. Luckily I didn't suffer from inferiority complex, I was quite content ordering men twice my size around. Shouldn't have a problem with a slender girl then.

\- " Nothing I can make out. " - I sighed, my mind wandering further - " I've been putting off asking this Ensign but... communications? "  
She closed her eyes, shaking her head with a lopsided grin - " I'm fairly certain the subspace antenna, the primary sensor array, the deflector assembly have all been obliterated. "  
\- " Any chance of contacting Voyager? "  
\- " I can probably fix the beacon, but they will have to be at least within the system to pick it up. "  
\- " You said 'fairly certain'.. ? " - I smiled at her, hopeful.

Piper raised her brows, obviously not sharing my feelings on the matter. She had to bend down to exit the shuttle. I followed her, I don't think I'm presuming all that much if I say the warmth hit us both like a photon torpedo. Standing at the hatch one could still feel the cool inside air, a breeze playing around right at the opening, but a meter further and it was hotter than hell. Piper huffed and puffed as well, stopping for a moment as if stunned.

We went around the shuttle, keeping a distance between us and the practically steaming outer hull. The torn and shattered trees we hit tore down a small clearing around. The ground was covered with the pieces of the destroyed flora, at least this way we didn't need to trudge through too much mud. This was a rainforest, everything glistening with water. The natural growth everywhere was extreme, you couldn't drop a pin without hitting something green.

It became apparent the ship was finally stopped by a tree, putting the final dent in the nose. There were plenty more though, evidence of a small fire on the roots of the massive trunk, seeping plasma. Piper squatted down, aiming her tricorder at the area in question.

\- " Conduits ruptured inside, the hull breached. It's all burnt out and fused. " - she sighed, looking back up at me - " There is nothing to be done. "  
Her demeanor reminiscent of the Doctor's telling me about an alien we saved too late. I remembered the blueprints of this shuttle type enough to know that the three things in that bulkhead were the three things she has mentioned a minute ago. We were stuck here.

She stood back up, I reached for my forehead, already covered in moisture, venting but only more hot and wet air entered my lungs, merely making things worse. The warmth felt like one could bite into it. The tree that stopped the ship, the trunk was easily five meters in diameter, covered in very thin vines, which had small, perfectly circular leaves all over. Lower, around the roots these leaves were thickly covered by something dark, not ash from the crash, but moss and.. who knows what else.

Maybe it was too imposing as we were standing so close, but that tree could've been as much as 60-70 meters tall. The next one not more than a dozen steps away, different kinds of plant life between the two, some sort of shrubbery, red flowers. Piper touched the vines as she took a step back down, wiping the wetness into her uniform, puffing.

\- " Permission to get out of this uniform, Captain..? "  
\- " Good idea. " - I nodded. We started moving back the way we came - " Hope you like heat Ensign.. "  
\- " Not exactly... "  
\- " Might get a bit sweaty then... "  
\- " I can't sweat.. "  
\- " Oh? "  
\- " I will be panting like a dog.. " - she glanced at me, chuckling softly - " But at least keep smelling wonderful. "

Piper was already out of her jacket by the time we stepped on the hatch. Returning into the cool ambience was like stepping through the gates of heaven. She stopped in the hind compartment, I marched to the consoles, not sure why. Maybe I wanted to re-check what happened to us, develop an estimate about Voyager showing up. Unfortunately the outlook was pretty terrible, they might not have detected anything going wrong during our travel. Which meant they wouldn't do anything until we missed checking in, and even then, they send someone to try and find us, realize something is very wrong, think up a plan, scan around.. so on and so forth. We could be here for days.

By the time I turned back, she was in underwear, kneeling, searching in her backpack. Which I put back to where it was earlier, the neat and tidy lady that I am. I kept rolling my eyes around, turning my head toward the wall, as if there was something interesting to see there. Wouldn't want to be caught gawking after all. She stood up, I glanced at her, she at me, then we both looked away. I know, because it was that particular glance, when we both knew we both looked, we both saw, and yet we both pretend we didn't see, furthermore, didn't even look.

There was a privacy screen between the cockpit and her area, I think I heard her try to engage it, but I didn't expect our devastated little shuttle to be able to span an opaque forcefield, so I wasn't surprised when I didn't hear it go up. Glaring at the command console again, I pretended that it was the single most interesting thing on this side of the galaxy. I even hovered my fingers over it, thinking: isn't this an obvious farce? Is there a point to this at all? I unzipped and removed my jacket too, at least that was productive. Couldn't help turning again, she was out on the hatch, facing away, no bra, putting on a different one. Starfleet standard won't do in the jungle, huh? Instead of staring like an oaf, I turned away quickly, trying to remember every detail of the sight. Her body was breathtaking, stirring a pot in me I've long forgotten.

Voices in my head became louder, compelling me, demanding I look again, she will be removing her bottoms too, I have to see it! My orderly conduct didn't permit such indulgences though, I sat down, burying myself in the colorful touchpanels, pretending to be busy, while all the images in my head only portrayed her. Who knows how much time has passed until she came in, clad in her new outfit.

\- " Your turn, Captain. " - I glanced up, my heart skipped a beat. I've seen Piper scarcely covered before, in her training outfit. In a little black dress as well, amongst other things, during social gatherings on Voyager, or on shore leave. All those memories became quite vivid in the past minute, especially now. I think I managed to smile at her, get up and leave her to pretend to be busy, I imagined there would be plenty of time to feast my eyes later.

As I knelt down to fetch my clothes, I wondered if she would try to steal a glance. Her preference of women was well known to me, it would have been difficult not to know about it, even if we lived many decks apart. Gossip travels at warp ten, as it were. Even if it didn't, I knew about the reprimands on her record. I sanctioned them after all. Let's just say she didn't get any of them for a mistake, or a deliberate error concerning her duties, rather thanks to miscellaneous inappropiateness. Her species was another thing. She could've been the only Naraahl in Starfleet. Their ancestral planet was well within the confines of the Klingon Empire, which is not famous for all the freedoms it grants to vanquished worlds. 'Piper', which was obviously not her given name, used to be a refugee, before joining Starfleet.

I've decided to change like she did, putting on similar clothes. While my shorts were short, they weren't short short short short... short, shorts like hers. I could only hope my legs won't be covered with cuts thanks to this decision. We've actually packed for some trekking in a warm environment, just not a bloody rainforest.. Had one of those fancy, snug sleeveless shirts too, which is supposed to keep you dry and feel airy and light and wonderful. Again, I could only hope. I was looking forward to wearing my new boots, I replicated them just for this journey. Well not exactly this one, the supposed-to-be one, but they should be more than capable of tackling the mud here. Wish they were high heeled though, of course, then I might have broken my ankles in them, but at least I wouldn't have appeared so damn short next to Piper. Everything I put on was what I like to call 'Captain-Beige', the accessories like buttons, holster for equipment were matte white. There was no mirror available here, but I remembered I liked the look of myself when I tried them on, back on Voyager. I hoped Piper would agree. And no, I didn't find that childish or ridiculous, or to be a medical case of extreme wishful thinking.

Piper went for the black and orange vibe, wearing a padded sports bra... It had to be padded anyway, Naraahl or not, no one is that full and perky and perfect at the same time. Covered it with an orange top made from some sort of see-through mesh, super short shorts, big belt, all sorts of holsters hanging from it, and ankle-cut full-grain leather boots with orange soles and laces.

Unlike me, she looked genuinely busy as I reentered the cockpit. I glanced over her interface, noticing proper work.  
\- " Anything? "  
She turned, checking me, or rather my attire out - " No, I tried to do some ranged scans but.. " - she shrugged - " I can't even tell if we are on a plateau or in a valley. "  
\- " Well, only one way to find out then, I suppose. "  
Nodding, she turned back, disabling the useless systems.  
\- " I'll go scout around, you can.. "  
Her head snapped to me again - " I'll go with you, Captain. "  
_Okay_. Wasn't about to reject that, wanted to tell her to fix the beacon, but having her along sounded much better actually. We both got up, I've slid the tricorder into its holster, basically ready. Piper knelt down, putting on fingerless gloves - featuring knuckle protection, her tricorder, several other gadgets, like wedge fixtures, cable for it, a cinch, a knife... well you get the picture.

\- " I wasn't planning on going too far Ensign. "  
\- " Can't hurt to be prepared... " - when I thought she was finally finished she stood up, grabbing a freaking bastard sword. I never knew she had that in her bag in the first place.  
\- " You brought a machete?! "  
She grinned - " You said we would be trekking in a forest Captain, I thought it might be overkill, but the shuttle can carry it. Now I'm quite glad I've brought it. "

I glanced out at the thick vines and shrubbery, her assessment might have just been spot on. My breath gave out in the next moment. Piper was arching up, fixing the holster of the blade to her back, more or less inadvertently showing off the perfect shape of her body. Not the thin as a whistle glamour model kind though, she was muscular, ripped. Thanks to her Naraahl DNA, and I would assume a very finely tuned training regimen, she was still slender, refined. Thin waist, wide hips, quite alien, as if she had two sets of hipbones, since there were two protrusions where humans only had one, slightly differently shaped, wider. Her belly, her legs, her arms, her shoulders were toned, she was in perfect shape, fit as hell. A proper soldier. I tried to shoo away the thoughts, but the massive gap between her thighs felt strangely titillating, the entire woman felt so radiant, exuding assertive sensuality. Especially with the sword across her back.

\- " Ready? " - I uttered as I finally realized I'd been staring again.  
\- " I was born ready, Sir. " - she grinned. I'm sure there was a smart comeback to that notion, which would have tore her down a peg, but I wasn't a Red Squad Drill Sergeant, so I could only smile.

My momentum lasted until the edge of the devastation we've caused. After scaling a torn and shattered tree hunk, the edge of the forest was like a wall. Greenery everywhere, a tight web with no way through. She landed next to me, it was my turn to grin.  
\- " Wanna do the honours, Ensign? "  
Piper hesitated for a few moments - " How rough... may I be, Captain? " - her tone carried an edge I didn't like.  
\- " What do you mean? "  
\- " Well these are technically lifeforms... "  
And I was the Captain who had the tome of regulations further up her arse than anyone else in Starfleet. Right. - " Cut us a way through, Ensign. " - I answered with a deep, stern tone - " And be quick about it. "  
\- " Aye, Sir. " - she steeled her demeanor, but I still felt a smirk in the curve of her lips. I liked that she called me 'Sir' though, all the Red Squad people did. Only had to tell them once about it too. I'd be damned before letting some tweens call me ma'am...

I fetched my tricorder, kept my distance, let the help get sprayed with drips of water from every single plant she cut down. She was doing a good job of it though. The forest looked stunning, I held my breath as she approached a bush with huge, incredibly vivid flowers. I didn't count but there were about 10 million miniature petals inside it, forming a fractal pattern, quite stunning. I was ready to lay it on her if she cut into it, but she didn't. She turned, circling it instead, on her own. Perhaps there was a hopeless romantic beyond that insufferably perfect exterior of hers. Perhaps she simply knew I was behind her... There was almost no straight sun ray getting through the upper levels, but most things were still green down here. Only the trees were covered in these smaller types of vine-like growths that were either brown or black. We couldn't have been more than 50 meters from the shuttle when we've found the first dead tree. My tricorder chirped differently, that should've been the first clue.

That tree wasn't covered with any sort of plantlife. It was covered in something else, as if it flowed from top down, slowly, solidifying in the process. It smelled something fierce, Piper stopped too, gazing upwards. No leaves at the top of it, sunlight was blazing the upper part. The bark was bored through like cheese, extra, tower or turret like formations on it, made from the same substance as the downflow.

\- " Some sort of parasite? "  
I raised a brow, staring at my tricorder, watching as it lit up in lifesigns, coming from the husk - " Insects.. "  
A moment later, one of them emerged from a hole. The first hole was about 20 meters up the bark, this one came out from further up still. Why could we see it so clearly anyway? Because it was as big as a human torso.  
\- " Uhm, Captain... " - I heard Piper whimper.  
It looked fierce, reminded me of a heavily armored tank. It had at least six legs, serrated claws on its head, aiming forward. No idea where its eyes were, but pretty sure they were looking at us.

She turned around, saw her gazing at a specific point somewhere next to us, motioning with her head. I turned too, another tree like this. We both kept glancing around, suddenly knowing what to look for. There were more, a lot more. Another bug appeared meanwhile, the first one descending in rhythmic, rapid bursts, freezing up like a statue inbetween.

_~Let's get THE HELL out of here!~_ \- " Slowly, Ensign. " - I whispered, leaning down a bit, taking steps backwards, fairly certain I didn't have to mention the direction to her.  
\- " How slowly, Sir? " - she queried after about 5 meters, the bugs were a lot faster, and our apparent retreat didn't phase them.

Suddenly, a noise, from somewhere behind us. Like crickets, only incredibly loud. Yes, ordinary crickets can be surprisingly loud too, but this was earsplitting. I spun around, the same sound coming from more directions, along with noises dangerously similar to Piper cutting down the greens earlier. I glanced at my tricorder to confirm, but it was chirping already, the default alert. Movement nearby that wasn't there before makes it bleep and bloop, compelling the numbnut officer holding it to move.  
\- " Run! " - I cried, following my own order.

Made it perhaps another 7-8 meters, when one of the creatures charged at my legs. They were flat, moving shallow above ground. Their armor-like exoskeleton grey, even off-white, functional parts pitch dark, that's all I saw before it basically buffed me over like a weirdly low bull. I fell into the wet mess of the fallen dead leaves.  
\- " Captain! " - I heard her call out, squirming around I saw her grab her phaser, firing at the thing in the next second. I've seen many things, but never seen a standard Starfleet handphaser fire exactly like that.

There was no straight beam coming from the tip, only a liquid like zig-zag as if it were lightning, with a fitting thundering buzz. A truss did hit the insect, others random plants, the ground, one curved back onto her leg, another to her chest. She screamed, the energy discharge threw her several meters into a smaller, vine and moss covered tree trunk.

\- " Ensign! " - I screamed too, forcing myself from the ground, the fireworks caused the creatures to shift to a higher pitch, didn't see any more of them approach, although seeing or not seeing didn't mean much in the thick undergrowth, the tricorder would have been the only thing able to tell how far they actually were, but I had other things to worry about.

Looking upon Piper was disheartening, her body appeared to be in shock, a leg arched straighter than a warp-course, her elbow bent but her muscles tightened and tense, she was grabbing the phaser so hard she was about to wrench water from it.

\- " Ensign! " - I knelt down, grabbing her spasming arm, trying to move it gently - " You're okay, you're okay! " - her eyes were wide open - " Breathe! Just breathe! "

It took her a few moments to shake off the paralyzing effects, eventually breaking out heaving, squirming around, her eyes focusing on me.  
\- " The hell was that?! "  
\- " Phasers are out of commission for the time being.. " - the cracking sound was there again, along with the plants shushing - " Can you stand? "  
She nodded, putting away the particularly useless gadget, grabbing my arm. She stumbled, dizzily finding her bearings, but we were running before long.

Only for a few meters though, she screamed again from next to me, falling down headfirst, a bug basically ricocheting off her back, further ahead. It fell on its back, I spent half a second staring at Piper in the dirt again, another half at the bug, I got the vibe it wasn't rendered helpless, it wasn't kicking and squirming randomly, but couldn't get back to its stomach quickly either. The second was up, an insect jumped at me.

Got me in my side, knocking me over just like Piper. They were big yet not all that heavy, however the strike caught me by surprise, couldn't do much to help the fall. The mud felt warm, cringing, icky, the leaves and whatever else on the ground were sticky and smelly.

I saw Piper getting up, fetching her sword. Two more bugs came into view behind her.  
\- " Ensign! " - I cried, she didn't get further up from her knees, grabbing the machete in both hands downward, driving it through the still writhing, upside-down beast.

Its armor cracked with bone-chilling noises, letting out an extremely high pitched whine, in the same moment, all other insects in sight craned, bursting a meter or so backwards. I forced myself to get up, Piper as well, putting a boot on the creature and pulling the blade. We glanced at each other in silent acknowledgement, resuming our dash for the shuttle.

The rickety crackling and rapid step noises were coming from all around us. They were obviously not giving this up, I started to wonder if the shuttle would be a good idea at all. Where else would we go? How many of them could there be? Why wasn't the bloody phaser functional? I wasn't permitted the time to think too much, we were charged again.

In this case the bug sort of missed me from the side, only causing me to loose my balance, I bumped into Piper, she pushed me further ahead. Just as I would have sorted out my legs, she must've been bumped into from the back, because she shoved into me with a yelp. It couldn't knock us both over, we kept our momentum, somehow managing not to tackle each other, but a third insect sealed the deal. It jumped at me from the front, right above my crotch, stopping me dead. Then Piper bumped into me from behind, very hard this time of course, killing our momentum completely, we both fell down, moaning and growling.

I had to roll immediately, since I basically fell onto the one that got me, at least it was on its back after the maneuver. The damn things were all around us, who knows how many. They were all in check, as if they didn't know what to do with us. Perhaps they were operating by the instinct that so long as we were on their level, down on the ground, they were winning. Their legs ended in very small, fine tips, those serrated clawlike formations on their heads had very thin and tiny blades. Made sense, one only needs to nudge a saw back and forth to cut wood, flinging a giant axe takes much more energy. They still appeared deadly however, lacking the ability to kill us in a single swift movement was only a mild reassurance.

I was able to kick at the first one that charged closer, made it recoil, but I didn't think I managed to do any sort of damage that would discourage it from trying again, even in the long run. Their armor was strong and solid like a metal, even if I had Piper's weapon it needed to be aimed at a soft part. A black part perhaps, none of which were too exposed. More of them started attacking me, I wasn't able to turn fast enough, they knocked me about. Charging forward with their drilling claws, the impact was already painful enough, leaving small cuts in their wake. In my panic I did everything I could think of, shouting, throwing some mud at them, kicking...

Suddenly, there was another high pitched screech, I looked in the direction as all bugs took a few steps back. Piper killed, or seriously hurt another one with her machete stuck deep within the boring claws. They must've had a mouth there. This time the creatures wouldn't give us enough time to get up and leave, perhaps this only pissed them off worse. One charged at me again, but Piper lunged at it with the sword, hitting the claw, the metal ricocheting clean off the armored part, but at least it stopped the beast. The girl wasn't any better off than me, covered in mud and bloody cuts.

\- " Captain! " - she handed me the machete, I grabbed it immediately. She got up on her knees, grabbing her knife. Smaller of course, but still a pretty hefty blade. Right in the next moment, she was knocked to the ground, the bug staying on her. She rolled, wrenching herself free, lifeform or no lifeform, I didn't hesitate for a nanosecond, driving the sword into its exposed underside. Another screech, another scared response from all the others, retaliating with their own earsplitting cracking, only halting for a second, then charging again.

I can't very much recall who put what and exactly where in the next minute or so, suffice it to say things looked pretty dire. The few times I could look, all I saw was a sea of the creatures, we were completely surrounded. Apparently their way of killing whoever bothered their hives was to knock them around until they stopped moving. Not a very humane way eliminating threats. I realized it was needless to be scared of touching them, I managed to rip out a leg actually, they were armored but frail. Still, the many little horn-like protrusions, the sharp edges of their claws or simply their exoskeleton meant I was covered in cuts, my hand too, it was quite clear we couldn't keep this up for long. Let alone until they were out reinforcements.

The warm, wet mud was all over me, leaves and who knows what else stuck to me, in my hair, in my face... Then I heard beeping, as if someone was pressing buttons on a Starfleet instrument. I wrenched myself free from the latest bug, glancing in Piper's direction. She was down on the ground, curled up in a defensive position, protecting herself with her legs as she was messing around with the phaser. I was charged again, had to look away, managed to snag that one with the machete. I heard her curse and whimper. I was on all fours, retrieving the blade when I heard her shout:

\- " Captain! " - jumping, she grabbed onto me, tackling us both into a roll.  
The pain was secondary at that point, my eyes closed I felt her body against mine, rolling still, then a few thundering pops sounded. The next moment a constant booming started up, rapidly increasing in pitch, the creatures fell silent for a moment. Then.. then an earth shattering blast rocked the area, the agonizing explosion overloaded my ears, as it were. All I heard was a constant high pitched whine, my body numbed...

Next I remember, I saw the bloodied mess covered in mud, that was Piper, rise above me, the jungle around us lit up in orange light. She leaned over, fetching the machete I dropped somewhere along the way. Looking back at me, I saw her lips move, still too shellshocked to hear anything. She put a hand on me, leaning closer, saying something more, I had to fight the loud beating in my head, the paralysis in my extremities to be able to focus. Her hand on my body helped a lot, she began raising up, her hand leaving me, turned upright and held close to mine. Instinctively I reached for it, letting her pull me up.

Without thinking or any more attempts at communication we both started dashing for the shuttle. The creatures have vanished, I may have caught glimpse of some of them, but I didn't care. In my hectic stride and stumbling, my perception of reality slowly reached adequate levels again, my vision clearing, starting to hear sounds again. We've reached the edge, the same torn out tree trunk we started at. There was a bug in front of it. It might have wanted to get away, the branches preventing it. Piper raised the machete above herself as she ran, striking from momentum. The armor didn't matter here, striking down on the ridges on top of its head the blade cracked straight through, the screech was cut short too.

She looked around, raising the sword again. I noticed the other bugs too, but they were many meters away, peeking from under the plants around the edge. There was a fire within the jungle, around the explosion, surges of light kept coming from it, along with thundering noises. Whatever caused the phaser to malfunction originally must've been integral to this planet, unusual electromagnetic or other quantum fields, apparently they were still interfering with the energy discharge. The fireworks seemed to be a scary enough distraction for the creatures though, making Piper's apparent bloodthirst stupid and needless.

\- " Come on, we are almost at the shuttle! " - I put an arm around her, pulling her toward the trunk. It took her a second or two to budge, we shared a deep gaze in each other's eyes, both of us heaving, covered in filth.  
We scaled the trunk, dashing for the ship. Nothing has decided to nest in it, at glance, I turned right at the hatch, bashing the button to close it up. The procedure was painfully slow again, and unfortunately, I saw the insects run out onto the devastation, circling us before it finally shut. Piper crashed down onto a chair, spun toward me. We looked at each other, heaving still.

\- " Are you alright? "  
She nodded, then looking over herself, I'd guess reconsidered the response. I felt the same way, I was okay yet far from okay at the same time.  
\- " Sorry about the overload.. was a little danger close.. "  
\- " Better than slowly chipped apart... it was a good idea. "  
Then the air froze for us both, there was a bang on the hull. Then another. And another.  
\- " Can't these things just give up?! " - she sprung up, complaining aloud, me agreeing completely.  
My tricorder was somewhere in the jungle, so I stepped next to her, pulling hers from the holster. The bangs started to ramp up and intensify, although I felt it would take them a while to get through the duratanium. But then, to tear me back down just as I was beginning to dare some hope, a loud thud from the window. It was already cracked, the creature managing to bulge it in a little. We both watched as the continued bashing made the fabric give out more and more.

Finally, we looked at each other again.  
\- " We can't stay here... " - I told her.

.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~2~ :: Aftermath..._


	2. Aftermath

**Chapter ~2~ :: Aftermath**

**.**

Since the window wasn't flinching and fighting back, it provided a much better target for the insects to slowly but surely shatter.  
\- " We have to make a break for it, those hives can't be everywhere. "  
\- " How do we get past them? "  
I thought on that for a second, shrugging after all - " We have a few more phasers.. " - we've seemed to tentatively agree on that - " Fetch the subspace beacon, Ensign. "  
\- " We are not coming back? "  
\- " The shuttle struck down one of those dead trees as well. I would guess the only reason they weren't on top of us immediately was that it made an even bigger bang than the phaser blast. "  
She sighed, slushing some mud and miscellaneous filth to the floor, hissing with pain. The cuts, I thought.  
\- " We need to put together a medical kit, food, ... "  
\- " We should just take everything we can carry, Captain. " - she pointed at the stack of stuff in the hind compartment - " We've packed for camping, didn't we? "  
She had a point. But.. - " Did you pack separately for the trip and for the hotel? "  
\- " I did, actually. " - the constant banging on the hull and on the cracking window was unnerving to say the least.  
I sighed, looking at my packs... - " Well, good for you... " - because I sure as hell didn't. I was going to do that at the awesome famous full feature resort, between lounging and getting pampered on a massage table or something. Not while the damn shuttle around me was being bashed apart by some bloody alien beasts on an unknown planet!

Piper got busy fetching the beacon from its half-fused container while I ripped my bags open, emptying the biggest one completely, throwing everything that I would actually need into it, all of it becoming muddy and wet in the process. The tent and all related equipment was at least all-ready in a neat little package in the corner. Only half certain I had everything, but the clock was ticking, the bone-chilling crickety noise of the insects was quite clearly audible now, entire pieces missing from the front windows. It was putting its claws through, or trying to, several layers of reinforced glass were a bit more sturdy than wood. I saw Piper bundle together the beacon with a repair kit, starting to fasten everything she could onto her body.

\- " We will need to run Ensign, don't bring too much stuff.. "  
\- " If we run away without the things we need to survive, we might as well stay. " - she gave me a look - " I'm leaving my favorite heels, favorite dresses, favorite bikinis, don't worry.. " - that sounded a little hostile, making me sneer.  
I slapped everything onto my back as well, although my hands were empty. Another chunk of glass landed in the cockpit, the entire clawlike _whateverthehell_ on the bug's head fitting through.  
\- " Time's up.. "  
Piper grabbed the tent as well, leaving basically nothing for me, besides the things already hanging on me.  
\- " I can take that Ensign.. "  
\- " I'm fine Captain, just go! " - she nodded determinedly at the panel for the hatch controls.  
\- " The phaser? "

She looked at me, sighing, bumping the tent and a bag of camping stuff into me. Rather rough, but I had worse things to worry about. She grabbed a phaser, starting to press its buttons, freezing for a moment. Instead, she put it down, grabbing another small container which used to have an engineering tool in it. Removing the foam, she zapped across the entire shuttle, fetching three more phasers into it, then returning to the back.

\- " Ready Sir.. " - she put the box under her arm, messing with the fourth phaser.  
I nodded, hitting the buttons. It was going to open pretty slowly anyway. More prominent noises came from the cockpit, the window shattering enough for an insect to squeeze through. The opening was more than half a meter by then.  
\- " Ensign?! "  
\- " Here goes nothing... " - she breathed, throwing the beeping instrument out, toward the side, unquestionably landing on top of some creatures by the shuttle. We leaned away from the opening, I tried to protect my ears this time, too bad my hands were so full. I saw a creature finally making it inside the cockpit, I kicked an empty box at it, then the thundering pops sounded.

A second later, the explosion shook the entire shuttle, Piper's side of it banged with so many cracking thuds it cringed me down to my core. They were obviously insect parts getting splattered onto the hull. Piper managed to throw the phaser past the plane of the hatch, still some of the fallout landed on it, ricocheting inside, mud, pieces of wood and bug. It was time for the earsplitting screeching, I turned back out, the hatch still lowering, but it was almost complete, I could see everything. A sea of the damn things lit with the orange light of the energy discharge and the fires, all of them skittering along in chaos. Piper fetched a phaser from the box, steeling herself for the dash. We nodded at each other, then made a break for it.

There were hundreds of them, making me rethink my entire life. I wasn't quite sure it was even worth it. Running away I mean. They were all over the place, screeching, making their crickety noises, obviously greatly disoriented by the blast. If running in the mud wasn't bad already, I had to make sure I don't step on any of them. Not because I feared for their well-being, simply due to taking a wrong step and falling over would be quite an undashing end for Starfleet Captain.

Piper was faster than me, the pressing need to follow her provided the perfect motivation to keep running. I heard her beeping on the buttons of another phaser. We've managed to clear the lines of insects quickly enough, but by that time they started to regain their composure, forming an U-shape behind us, slowly but surely trying to catch up and surround us again. The worst of it all was that the edge of the actual forest was approaching at warp speed, as it were. Tackling a few shattered husks was one thing, traversing the thick undergrowth was another.

As we got close to the treeline, Piper turned around, slowing down a bit, throwing the beeping phaser past me. That was the best euphanism for _'hurry the fuck up!'_ I've ever witnessed. She had a bag on her right arm, holding the box of the two extra phasers to her body, fetching the machete with her left one, charging into the greenery. I had my hands full with the tent and the extra bag, but at least I could use them as a shield against the plants. She actually threw the phaser far enough, we were inside the jungle when it blew, the same earth-shattering blast in our wake. Arguable, if it was any less loud from this distance, the shockwave throbbed my lungs, but I've stayed upright, running. The screeching followed again, I didn't hear Piper prepare another phaser, she had her hands full trying to make a way for us, and I didn't even want her to make another bomb. This would have to do, if two wouldn't shake them off our tail, four wouldn't either.

I didn't really have time to be glad about the bug noises becoming softer and lower, since speed was of the essence, Piper's clearing work left much to be desired, but it allowed us to pass, keeping me busy with dodging the bigger vines and branches. We've caught a lucky break after about three hundred meters, I suddenly heard her trudge into water. The plants cleared, I stopped next to her, in a small but nonetheless welcome little waterway. It wasn't deep at all, rocks and exposed roots in its path, no more mud, no more hanging vines, we could run easier.

She put away the blade, fetching the tricorder instead. It was still set to what I'd left in it, everything _bug-y_. Holding it out, she scanned the surrounding area, starting from the angle of the flow.  
\- " More dead trees that way... " - she snapped it in the other direction, against the flow - " Looks clear upwards... "  
\- " Are they still following? " - they could certainly be heard.  
Piper turned to scan the way we came, the gadget did beep - " Yes, but they are at least much further behind. "  
\- " We should get as far away as possible... " - we nodded at each other - " Lead the way! "  
She put the tricorder away, fetching the equipment bag from me instead, starting her stride. It was certainly more comfortable with only my backpack and the tent to carry.

I planned this to be a vacation, the only work to be raising a glass to my lips, not keeping up with a young soldier in tip-top shape. My nerves were calming, unless the bloody insects went into stealth mode or something, they weren't following us anymore. Not closely anyway, and I couldn't imagine them sending out a hunting party after us. They were governed by instinct, protecting their territory. Remembering the fact that some species of wasps on Earth will track down and kill any agressor, no matter how far they manage to escape from the hive wasn't helping. Still, these weren't flying, so they couldn't be wasps.

My nerves might have been settling, it was my body's turn to growl and complain. Even with my most objective guess we could've easily cleared more than two kilometers by then, the Ensign not appearing to be thinking about slowing down at all. The little creek didn't zig-zag too much, we were going in a mostly straight line, barely, but constantly against elevation. The muggy, frowzy, wet warmth wasn't helping either. The water was colder, at least my feet were getting cooled off as I trudged in it.

I was seriously considering calling out for a break, but I was permitted to get away with my dignity, after another kilometer we've arrived at a clearing. Clearing in the sense that the thick bushes subsided, a rocky hill appeared on the left side, only covered by smaller trees and their vine-like roots snaking on the ground. Piper slowed down, eventually stopping by a rock, throwing the bags and the box down, fetching the tricorder.

Suddenly it felt like every piece of me was hurting, I gave up my plans for pretending how cool I was with running a mere few kilometers with a ton of stuff in a steaming rainforest, throwing the tent down similarly, turning around and landing on the rock with my backpack.

She took a few steps, back into the cold water, glaring at the gadget. She was barely panting,_ I mean, seriously_. Apparently getting caught in the feedback of a messed up phaser was a lot more trying, she was heaving then. The tricorder kept whining silently, no beeps.  
\- " Looks hopeful.. " - she said, handing me the instrument - " But I think we should continue. "  
\- " Maybe a little slower... " - I managed between two breaths - " I mean.., wouldn't want to... run straight into another... hive cluster. " - _clearly_, not because I was about to collapse.

She nodded, then squatted by the water, cleaning her arms, splashing herself with the cold water. That looked like a pretty good idea, I did a quick sweep of the area myself, but then threw off my backpack and joined her. We were both hissing as we rubbed over our cuts. Covered in mud and blood wasn't on my plans for the day in the morning... None of our cuts were particularly deep, thankfully the creatures had very tiny blades, but they would still sting like hell. Drank a few handfuls after I managed to clean my face enough for the water raised to my lips to stop tasting like mud, returning to my tricorder, remembering we weren't out of this just yet.

\- " The sun is setting, apparently. "  
\- " How long still? "  
\- " About an hour of adequate sunlight. "  
\- " I guess we have that long to find a place. "  
I sighed, glancing around - " Any suggestions? "  
\- " Well, the water feels like a blessing. " - she stood up, wiping her face, which was once again mostly skin colored - " I think we should follow it. "  
\- " Agreed. " - I nodded, the tricorder beeping the next moment.  
\- " Are they coming? "  
\- " Not the entire horde.. maybe a few. We should keep going. " - turned around, checking the rocky hillside out with the technology as well - " We should climb this, the water is coming down in a straight fall a few hundred meters from here... " - had to wipe some sweat from my brow - " I think. "

We returned to the rockside, Piper grabbing the bag of the tent.  
\- " I can carry that, Ensign. "  
\- " I know.. " - she said offhandedly, I was about to get angry, but then she put it down, loosening the circular string, and put in the box with the two remaining phasers, chucking an engineering instrument from her belt next to them as well, then resealing it - " I'm sure you can carry those with it too. " - she brought the bag back, smirking - " Sir. "  
\- " I'm sure I can.. " - I returned the smirk, unable to dismiss how gorgeous she was, even with the messy hair and a slightly less messy everything else. And us being in mortal danger.  
Piper resumed her leading position in our two-woman pack, scaling the rocks as if this was the holodeck. Settling into a reasonable, yet far from leisurely pace, I kept the tricorder, trying to balance glaring at it and the marvels of the jungle around us, lest we walk straight into a deathtrap again.

* * *

\- " Any idea about the phaser, Captain? " - she turned around after many silent minutes - " You know, why couldn't it form a beam? "  
\- " Well... " - although the entire earlier scenes were constantly replaying in my head I didn't think to check for this before, tapping the tricorder for some answers - " It might be the unusually high tetryon flux here. I would assume particle weapons simply don't work anywhere on this planet. "  
\- " Funny. "  
\- " Funny? "  
\- " Well, its just you know, if theres an intelligent species on this planet, they will never develop energy weapons. I'd guess transporters wouldn't work either.. "  
\- " That's a safe bet, yes. "  
\- " Then imagine, some far more advanced species wants this planet, they land with a huge invasion force, only to find their weapons can't fire, and the natives beat them with slingshots. "  
\- " Hmm.. " - I chuckled, if there were natives at all, certainly no sign of them yet - " Yeah.. "  
\- " Divine justice. "  
\- " That what you'd call it, Ensign? "  
\- " Please call me Piper, Captain. " - those eyes as she glanced at me, for the love of.. - " We are supposed to be on vacation, aren't we? "  
\- " Hmm... " - I mused for a few moments - " Is this where I'm supposed to say: 'And you can call me Kathryn'? "

She snickered, glancing back again.. - " Wouldn't dream of it, Captain, no... That's a cool rank, but.. who wants to be called Ensign? _Seriously_? "  
I've found her answer greatly satisfying - " _Piper_... How'd you come to be named Piper, anyway? "  
\- " You don't like it? "  
\- " Didn't say that, just curious. "  
\- " I picked it myself. Humans are incapable of... or maybe... " - she glanced back again, grinning in the most irresistible manner - " I should just say 'can't' pronounce my _actual_ name, so using that was out of the question, it starts with a note very similar to P, so... "  
\- " What's your actual name? "

She chuckled a little - " You can't even hear it, Captain. This took some time to explain to my human family, well to mom anyway... But you know, if you'd see it romanized and written down, you could say it easily, and think it was my name, except it wouldn't be my name, because the 'e' sound in my name is several pitches higher than the way you are capable of saying or even hearing it, so.. "  
\- " So your name has a very high e in it? "  
\- " Maybe it does. " - she smiled again - " I bet the screech those insects uttered made you cringe. "  
\- " I'm not above admitting that. "  
\- " I meant just the sound.. For me, it was still less bad than a Naraahl baby. "  
I had to chuckle - " That's funny, interesting.. How old were you, you barely have an accent? "  
\- " Fourteen, by your count. Sixteen by mine. That got translated to fourteen during the process, nevermind the fact that I was basically an adult. "  
\- " So that's how you weren't even 20 when assigned to Voyager. "  
\- " Yep. "  
\- " I remember being quite stunned, since your name didn't suggest you weren't human. "

She snickered - " Yeah, had that a few times. When we went to the boarding school interview with dad, we were talking to this lady for about half an hour, she was becoming increasingly unsettled, then she finally couldn't contain herself any longer and told us her time was limited, so its probably time for Piper to come in as well. "

I laughed heartily, finally she slowed down a bit, we were basically side by side, walking along the stream - " Noticed you called them mom and dad... "  
\- " Yeah, we grew rather close.. "  
\- " When was the last time you saw your real parents? "  
\- " _Parent_. And uhm, it was when she left me in the hold of a transport, with the filled out paperwork for Federation asylum... 'bout ten years ago. "  
\- " Oh.. I'm sorry. "  
\- " Don't be. " - oh how I hate when people say that.  
\- " Is there a reason..? "  
\- " Not particularly. Jsst, you know. " - she shrugged.  
\- " ... I don't? "  
\- " Well I.. guess I never got around to it. "  
I must've given her a weird look.  
\- " Oh. You are suprised. Yeah.. " - she grinned, shaking her head - " We don't have the same sort of relationships as humans do. I didn't really grow up with her. It's more of a simple technicality, Captain. "  
\- " I see. " - I didn't, but thats the proper thing to say, isn't it - " You've also emphasized.. 'parent' ? "  
\- " Yes. "  
\- " I will admit En.. Piper, that my knowledge of the Naraahl is limited, but I'm pretty sure you have males as well. "  
She slowed down, giving me the most puzzling expression, eventually turning into a grin - " Yeah._ ..We do._ " - she shrugged - " The concept of a father is still meaningless for us. "  
\- " Uhm... " - I furrowed my brows, trying to make sense of this.  
\- " It's long story, Captain. "  
\- " You still seemed to have embraced the idea, with your human family.. "  
\- " Yeah, I suppose I have. " - she shrugged - " I have three.. sort of siblings, "  
\- " You mean foster. "  
\- " That's the word. So, I guess it made sense. "

I wanted to know everything about her. Continue this walk, this conversation until my legs gave out, but there was this other thing. The thing that happened a mere short while ago? When we had to use three BOMBS to escape a swarm of alien insects hell bent on killing us, or worse! I sighed heavily, earning a concerned glance from her.  
\- " Oh don't mind me. It's just that we are making smalltalk here, while we were running for our lives twenty minutes ago. "  
She chuckled, perhaps living through some remembrances - " That was intense. "  
\- " Intense. ... Yes. " - she started to snicker again - " Excellent adjective. " - I joined in as well.  
Suddenly, something howled, hooted, ululated.. I don't know, but it was incredibly loud. The only phrase fitting the extent of my fright would be 'scared shitless'. I reached out for Piper instinctually, even yelped with a start. Looked up, in the direction of the sound. It was small animal, like a monkey, only it wasn't hairy. It did it again, then casually jumped away, grabbing onto vines and branches. It was about as threatening as a baby. Apparently it was angry with our intrusion.

There was no way to cover this up, I buried my face in a palm, glancing at Piper, who started laughing.  
\- " Ahh.. " - she took a more enunciated breath as well, then we both kept snickering, as I was trying to force some measure of calm back into myself.  
\- " You were scared too. " - I told her as we started moving again.  
\- " No I wasn't! " - her complacent seriousness was so cute...

* * *

We continued for about half an hour, seeing a few more types of animals, none of them quite as vicious as the insects. No sign of their hollowed out trees either. The angle of our ascension started to become tougher and tougher, the extreme heat and humidity making it a damn nightmare. The little watercourse kept getting gradually bigger, eventually we've reached another rockface, taller than the earlier one, harder to climb. The ways we picked to do so, meant that eventually I ended up in front of her. Not because I was faster of course, the exact opposite. I became super self-conscious, suddenly felt like I was the slowest thing in the universe. Letting her take over would have still been beneath me though, I didn't have 4 pips on my collar for nothing. Anyway, as we were climbing she was closer and closer to me. Deciding to ignore her and just climb for myself, I picked up the pace, or so I thought, before I felt her shoulder on my... well on my butt.

\- " Come on... " - Piper growled, _the nerve..._  
She started to push me upwards, with such momentum I almost fell. All I needed to do was making sure I stayed upright, the entire climbing part was done by her. Eventually the trail changed so she could stop... doing that, and instead grabbed my hips, still guiding and helping me along. Her hands were dangerously low, she was as close to me as the stuff we were carrying permitted. I felt like I would have to let her call me Kathryn after this... The climb was worth it however, at the top we've found.. heaven.

A more substantial creek emptied itself into a waterfall, but not before the flow was split into two, the second way only coursing down some rocks into a beautiful pond. One edge of the pond went into the same waterfall, but the flow at the split was very light, allowing its water to be especially calm. The water was bright, greenish, going nicely with the light rocks, off-white like the insects' armor. But how far away those were by then...

As we got to the top she let go of me, her hands brushing across my body... Her smile made my perceptions lapse for a moment... I was dead tired too, thankfully the air felt just a tad better here.  
The tall drop right beyond the pond allowed a gap in the treeline, we were finally able to look out into the distance. The sun was about to set, still illuminating the endless jungle, as far as the eye could see. The view was breathtaking, only the smoke raising from our crash-site breaking the otherwise idyllic green cover. We've apparently 'landed' in a shallow valley, a taller mountain on the left side. Even the air was easier to breath here, the open gap into the sky allowing the extreme humidity to somewhat diminish. There were a few white clouds in the sky, maybe we've arrived just after some heavy raining. Or maybe it would be completely blanketed again by the morning. Had to wait and see.

Piper put down her stuff by the shore, after marveling at the horizon.  
\- " How 'bout we don't go any further, Captain? " - she looked at me.  
\- " Oh, we are staying. That's an order. " - she just kept staring at me, an easy smile on her lips - " _And you can call me Kathryn._ "  
For a few more moments she kept gazing, I started to feel naked, my clothes were stuck to my body, wet... - " You look great, Kathryn. I thought I'd have to carry you from the river.. "  
I must've given her a very particular look.  
\- " I uh.., I didn't mean... You know, I just thought you'd be like uh, you know like a more.. kinda.. " - I folded my arms, highly interested in how would she come out of this one - " more like a _captain captain_ you know... " - she shook her head, changing her voice - " I... I don't know what I thought. I didn't think anything. I'm sorry. "

Smiling and chuckling, I watched her turn away and be embarassed.  
\- " We should set up a perimeter. " - I broke the silence - " ... Too bad we only have one tricorder. "  
\- " I have another. "  
\- " You do? "  
\- " Yeah, but.. it's _my_ tricorder. "  
\- " Oh? " - I grinned - " Well use this one then, for a scanning field. "  
\- " Sure.. " - she walked to me, apparently very glad I've decided to just forget the earlier blunder. She told me I looked great though, it would have been hard to get mad at her - " Where are we sleeping? " - she looked around again, I did as well.

There was this tree rooted on the small cliff above the lake, with a rather substantial horizontal branch of it leaning over the shoreline, above our current position.  
\- " Feel like hanging? " - I asked.  
Piper glanced at me, then up to where I was looking.  
\- " You're not afflicted by vertigo then I assume.. "  
That's an incorrect term to describe a fear of heights, but she can call it whatever she likes, so long as she keeps smiling like that.  
\- " Are you? "  
\- " Nope.. " - she smirked, turning away, fetching stuff from different bags. I kept gawking at her for a while in the clear, bright light. She was so shapely I could describe it as aggrevating even. Her legs, though muddy and bloody, seemed to go on forever. Her calves... her thin knees, I turned away, biting hard into my lips. The scenic view was a different kind of beauty...

The spa we were supposed to be at invaded my mind, Voyager... Some vacation this one turned out to be. Yet this was only the beginning.., some part of me hoped we would be permitted a few days here, lost in a jungle together. I could certainly imagine worse fates, even if the bit with the swarm was a_ teeny bit_ hectic. Provided we wouldn't be eaten in the night by the local version of a tiger or something, of course.

I noticed the filth splattered all over me from the corner of my eyes, shifting my thoughts to ponder about the sorry state I was in. We were both in. Washed somewhat in the stream, my shirt was still an utter mess, my brand new boots certainly had their christening as well. The cuts.. would have to deal with those before getting some shuteye. The water started to become much more inviting than the view, or even Piper. I looked at her again, she was up near the tree, planting wedges into the bark, starting to climb it. Only then did I manage to realize that hanging the tent from the tree will mean we have to climb up there. But_ Ensign Eager_ seemed to have an adequate grasp on the situation. Looked at the water again, sighing. Forced myself to have the decency not to start frolicking in there while she was climbing in feline mode, setting up a way to the branch, leaving the tricorder in a vantage point.

Piper set up the ropes and pulleys rather quickly, the sun was still a large, orange disk when she came back down, although that would only last for a matter of minutes.  
\- " Nice work.. "  
\- " Thanks.. " - she smiled, removing her belt with all the equipment - " Will you require anything of me, for the next... hour or so, ...uhm, Katrhyn? "

That was a strange question, the tent was still not up on the branch. It was designed for this by the way, the notion of hanging it from a tree wasn't the product of temporary insanity. It was highly modular, insulated, usable on an icecap, in a desert, in a jungle, possible to set up on the ground, on a vertical rockface, hung up, anything.  
\- " I don't... suppose so.. "  
\- " Good. " - she chuckled, then threw her backpack to the shore of the meadow, got out of her boots, skittered up the small cliff and jumped in the water with a hearty 'woohoo'.

I laughed out, left alone on dry land, imagining who else from the crew would be so uninhibited. Any Ensign that came into my mind, the only scenario I could conceive was them bowing repeatedly in front of me, asking if they can go in the water please Madam Captain Sir... Maybe Tom Paris, I could certainly imagine him being cheeky and playful, making the best of the situation. Except he wasn't a young hottie. I guess that depends on how you define hottie. Or young.  
Piper returned to the surface, flinging her hair around.  
\- " How's the water? "  
\- " Perfect! " - she beamed - " Why aren't you coming in? "  
Again my mind played around with putting different faces on her. Tuvok, emerging from a hillside meadow asking me that. _Hilarious_.  
\- " I was waiting for you. "  
\- " Oh.. " - she swam closer to the shore - " That's so nice, I'm sorry. "  
\- " It's alright.. " - I chuckled, getting my boots off.

There was this voice in my head, whispering about how she didn't add the word 'Captain' to the end of her sentences. I felt glad about it, yet it made me a little puzzled as well. I shouldn't have told her to loose the rank, my dissociative identity barked, since I was her Captain, and a Captain is a Captain regardless of circumstance. Strange, I've always liked to tell my subordinates to leave the rank at the door, however, somehow-someway, that became orders of magnitude more difficult with Piper.

First of all, telling someone that is usually a sort of reward. Like, I would work together with said someone for a while, their perfomance would be continually exemplary, then we have dinner or something over a job well done, and then I let the conversation be less formal. Piper wasn't an exemplary officer. Red Squad or no Red Squad, she was unruly and hotheaded, constantly assuming her way was the right way. Their defense, because this wasn't only her, but all of her squadron, that they were trained for a different mission. Peaceful exploration on a ship starved for resources was a far cry from a warship loaded for bear, protecting the Federation when diplomacy failed. When we have established contact with Starfleet Command, while uniformly good news on most of Voyager, the Maquis learned that their group was wiped out, Piper and her lot learned that they've missed a war, the very thing they have trained for. Where their friends fought and died, without them being able to make a difference. I'd be lying if I said I didn't appreaciate their situation, but it was no excuse, things are what they are... and will be what they will be, as it were.

Second of all, I'm usually not attracted to people under my command. Sure, some 'according to Freud' psychosexual hijinks might be hidden between the lines, but still. This was different, I felt something about her, I didn't know what. Sure, she was attractive, very much so, but I didn't even like her. She can have her perfect little curves, her cute smile, whatever, I'm not a man - I told myself, while being absolutely unable to get any of it out of my head, even for a nanosecond.

I didn't even know why she's decided to come with me. It was the most puzzling thing, the way it was decided. We were simply in the Messhall, I was telling Chakotay and Tuvok about my plans, but Chakotay had his own, and well... I didn't even ask Tuvok. I was upset that I would be to go alone, because I hadn't the faintest who to even ask. Then Piper stood up, she was sitting with her friends right nearby, and told me she would go with me. I remember standing there, gaping like an idiot. Her friends were snickering, I thought she did it just to spite them in some weird way I would never understand. 'Well, I don't want to go with you' would have been the thing to say, except I couldn't bring myself to do it. I really didn't want to go alone, and truth to be told, I may imagine myself as the dauntless starship captain, my plan included a trip to the wilderness of an alien planet, I wanted someone..._ more dauntless_ to be there? She was wearing this tight, buttoned shirt, no one was wearing uniform, we were off duty after all, well, Tuvok was wearing his.. unimportant, the point is, if nothing else, Piper may be slender but she exudes that audacious assertiveness every passing second. I knew from the more than five years of her serving on my ship that she might have that deceptively innocent shade of color for her hair, her beauty, but she'll cut a bitch. If you'd excuse my french.

So we were here in this jungle. A little wilder wilderness than I've planned for but, this wasn't something you could wish away. I was even more glad then, that it was her of all people who came with me. Wouldn't want to even imagine guiding and nursing a tremolous, timid and hapless crew member through this, looking to me for advice about anything everything, even taking a step. Or going in the water.

The water. I didn't remember what the tricorder said about its temperature, but it wasn't cold enough. Still, immeasurably better than the insufferable heat of the jungle air. I took a more traditional method of entering the meadow than my counterpart, but I moaned all the same once I was inside. Like her, I didn't take off anything but my boots - _and my socks.. I wore socks_ \- had to get my shirt cleaned too after all. Skinny dipping was a tempting idea of course, but..

Then I noticed Piper was taking off her top, that mesh thing, rubbing it in the water, getting the filth out of it. Again, I had the same idea, but she did it first, this was starting to get annoying, then she took off her black.. _'I wouldn't be sexy enough without padding'_.. bra as well. Only her head was sticking out of the water, but uh, her bright skin was practically glowing from underneath, in the declining illumination provided by the setting sun.

My mind went blank. As in, useless. Only mild, then wilder fantasies about what exactly this evening had in store for me flashing through it.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~3~ :: The Evening..._


	3. The Evening

**Chapter ~3~ :: The Evening**

**.**

The warm, wet air proved quite frozen for me. There was now a stark naked hottie in this naturally occuring tub with me. What would I say? Simply ask her something along the lines of 'What the F', or purr, and coo a catty remark? Part of me just wished I would be more like Piper, apparently not giving a single damn about the gravities of the situation. She was laying out her clothes on the smooth, white rocks. I couldn't imagine them drying too much in this environment, but I understood the sentiment, I guess.

She gave me a beguiling look as she turned and swam back to the backpack she strategically laid by the shore before her jump. Can't imagine how I must've looked at her. Technically, she was another woman, what do I care. Thinking that further, she must've been used to this, even with men for all I know. Red Squad is no picnic, advanced tactical training and imprisonment conditioning, she participated in Starfleet courses and exercises I've never even dreamed about. Who knows what remains taboo after such experiences. Who knows what was taboo in the first place for a Naraahl. Maybe I'm being offensive, wearing clothes, like a silly human.

I absently pulled at my shirt under the water, trying to get some mud out of it, pondering if I should take it off. Had the bra on, after all. Who bathes in a shirt, after all. I had a few more after alls to cite to myself. Thought I would dip entirely underwater for a moment, look at the last minutes of sunset, minding exclusively my own business.

Enjoying the mostly only imagined reprieve, Piper suddenly appeared next to me, pressing herself against the edge of the meadow. The edge was very thin there, a massive drop on the other side. But more importantly, she had something on, like a bikini. Lies! Subterfuge! She'd said she would leave those!  
\- " Gorgeous, isn't it? "  
\- " Yeah... " - I mumbled. _Oh, she meant the sun._ Well that was beautiful too.

Space age or not, sunsets remained magical for me. The sun is so unmoving in the sky, at least it feels so, then these last moments pass so fast, you can literally see it dip down beyond the horizon. The sky, the jungle around us darkened, past the bright rocks surrounding the little lake, the edge of the thick plantlife became shrouded in ominous darkness. Piper turned around, emerging from the water somewhat, resting her elbows on the rock behind her, leaving more of herself.. exposed.. I must've looked at them rather directly.

\- " Where'd you get those? " - I don't know why I said that.  
She raised a brow curiously.  
\- " I mean.., you've said something about leaving your bathing suits behind. "  
\- " Oh.. " - she chuckled - " I had one in my adventure kit. "  
\- " Why? "  
\- " I'm sure you won't believe me, but for exactly this. " - she shrugged, grinning - " I thought we might encounter a meadow under a waterfall, or backwater, you know. And then who's prepared for a little dip? "

_It was white._ Her bikini, it was pure white. Bite-sized, embroidered, multiple parallel straps... a work of art. I'd imagine an 'I will stop wearing black when they invent a darker color' attitude from someone like her. Or something too obvious, like red. But no.. she had to wear white, like an angel. She had to be perfect.  
\- " Didn't you pack a pocket shuttle or such? Get us off this planet? "  
\- " Come now Kathryn, this ain't so bad.. "  
I glanced around, nodding, had to agree. Of all the places to crashland, this wasn't all that terrible. Except for the swarm of murderous overgrown insectoids who wanted to cut us up into little pieces. Some of those cuts burned like hell, I noted. My damn shirt, I should really take it off. What was preventing me really, being shy? My abs wouldn't be so revoltingly perfect as hers? Could I truly be so trivial?

\- " Whoa, look! " - she exclaimed, her head snapped towards the jungle.  
There was something bright in the darkness. Bright, as in glowing. More of them actually. They've had a warm orange glow. Those mushrooms, I recognized their shape. We've passed hundreds if not thousands of them, except they weren't glowing with the sun up. Regular shroom shape really, they had a fat, bulgy base, the hat not really protruding. Unremarkable, except they were freakin' glowing now!

Piper swam to her backpack, retrieving a knife, swimming to the other side, climbing out. My sight focused on her buttocks in the little boyshorts she had on...  
\- " What are you doing? "  
\- " Getting some? " - as if the thing to do when noticing alien glowing shrooms was retrieving them.

I was too surprised to say anything more, at the same time, a different kind of glow appeared as well, these up in the trees. Similarly mushrooms, these were much smaller, glowing with a neon-green color. Some of them looked like pink. I looked down into the wilderness below us, the whole jungle was lighting up, as if mirroring the night sky with their own colorful dots.

\- " Incoming! " - Piper yelled, by the time I turned, a sizeable orange shroom was flying in a curve, into the lake. It plomped like a half inflated beach ball, staying afloat. She fetched a few more, all but vanishing from sight, it was really getting dark fast. No moon to speak of on the sky, the remaining brighter blue domain was disappearing just as quickly as the sun was.

Eventually returning with a couple of the smaller ones too, our meadow became quite nicely illuminated. There was almost no current, the two miniature waterfalls originating from here were faint, and the shrooms dipped into the water enough so as not to tip over the edge.

Piper carefully tiptoed around the outer rim, taking in the beauty of the jungle lighting up in Christmas spirit, I'm sure. The pool was rocky, no mud, very little algae, deepening quickly. Luckily the stones were sanded off, so to speak, by the water. This was truly another face of this place, the other side of the coin, after the bloodthirsty insects. I marvelled at the view myself, both the jungle and her... The soft glow of the fluorescent shrooms on her glistening body... The dimness graced her with a veil of mystery, only increasing her natural charms.

\- " This is so cool... I've always envied planets where the vegetation had this feature.. "  
\- " The evolutionary paths leading to this are rarely realized nature... it's certainly magical. " - I sounded like Seven suddenly...  
She turned around, fiddling with an orange shroom - " This is the first time I see something like this outside a holodeck.. "  
I furrowed my brows - " About a year ago... on Virtahl IV.., was it? They had forests with phosphorescent plantlife. "  
\- " Mhmm, I heard. " - we looked in each other's eyes, and then the penny dropped, _aww, shit.._ \- " I was confined to quarters then. "

I couldn't hide my smirk adequately, glancing to the side.  
\- " Awwwkwaaaaard... " - she tuned, bursting into laughter.  
\- " Well.. " - I grinned - " As I recall, you had only yourself to blame. "  
\- " Have I? I touched a girl. On the shoulder. " - we glared at each other, I raised my brows, one-upping her - " She's decided to scream, because physical interaction was something inconcievable for their species so casually, aaand.. someone, _who shall not be named_, decided to make a big deal out of it. "  
I huffed and puffed, _this cheeky bitch!_ \- " Is that the way you think about it? "  
\- " How am I wrong? "  
\- " My hands were tied, the ambassador demanded I take action! "  
\- " Oh yes, a formal warning wouldn't have sufficed.. "  
\- " He demanded I... "  
\- " _Demanded_. You could have told him: no. Seeing how nor my intentions nor my actions were the equivalent of 'attempted rape'. For crying out loud, it happened 5 meters from you in the Messhall! "  
\- " Maybe not from our perspective, but.. " - she sighed heavily, I stopped, tilting my head.  
\- " How come the regulations protect everyone but us? Your crew? "  
\- " I'm not debating this with you, Ensign. "  
\- " Piper, Captain, remember? "  
I chuckled - " Maybe I thought you would learn something.. "  
\- " Hmm... Have I? "  
I tilted my head the other way - " Have you? "  
\- " The next time a girl smiles and giggles like that at basically everything I tell her, I'm gonna touch her all the same. " - the suggestion was quite crystal clear, knowing her other similar escapades, I couldn't help but snicker, along with her.

She swam across to her backpack on the shore, sitting up next to it, diving into the contents. The medical kit, I assumed, deciding the time was finally up, and took off my shirt. Tried not to hiss too much as the tight fabric rubbed my cuts. I could barely tell the shirt was cut, they were so thin. They were deep enough though, superficial, but still. _Painful_. I was watching her as she selected a dermal regenerator from her medkit, flicking the buttons quite automatically, aiming it at her cuts like a pro.

\- " Not the first time you're using one of these? " - I got mine in my hand as well in the meantime.  
\- " Nah.. I'm afraid not. "  
\- " Were you trained in field triage? "  
\- " No. I mean, you know, first aid, yes, but not much else. " - she glanced at me, I thought I was pretty suggestive about continuing - " When we train on Voyager.. incurring a few minor wounds here and there is not uncommon. "  
\- " What about the Doctor? "  
\- " We don't go to the Doctor. "  
\- " Why is that? "  
\- " Because if we go to the Doctor with black eyes, contusions and superficial cuts, he goes to you. You ask Tuvok to investigate, he does, and then Lieutenant Andrews receives a lecture about how he shouldn't even be allowed to conduct separate trainings for us. "  
I smirked - " And you don't want that. "  
\- " No.. I don't want that. "

I knew about all this, their training sessions were sanctioned by me, years ago. Andrews was their direct CO as a Red Squad squadron. - " Why aren't you attending Tuvok's class though? I heard he can be quite strict as well. "  
\- " Oh yes, I'm sure. "  
Again, I had to be suggestive. She sighed.  
\- " I'm not sure it would be _strictly strategical_ for me to talk about this with you. "  
\- " How so? "  
\- " Well uhm, you're the Captain. Tuvok is the senior tactical officer, head of security. "  
\- " Try me. "  
Piper looked straight at me, into me with those beguiling eyes - " Tuvok teaches a dance. How to dance with an opponent who knows the same dance. When we train, we fight. "  
\- " What about discipline? "  
\- " Forgive me if I'm overly poetic C..athryn, but discipline is learned through sweat and blood, not from a group therapy session, kneeling next to candles. "  
I snickered again - " You're not very much taken with his methods, are you? "  
\- " I'm not saying his techniques are without merit. He is clearly an adept combatant. How do I put this.. his sessions are about a lot more than fighting you know. That feelgood sort of stuff, exercise for the mind and body, being in center with yourself... I'm sure many on the crew appreciate his guidance, but it's not for me. When I'm training I want to beat people up, opponents who fight back. Then the way I relax, and do all that other stuff, let that just be my business. "  
\- " Sounds like you have this all figured out. "  
\- " Do you attend his sessions? "  
\- " The ones he holds seperately, to keep people up to speed, every month or so. We get knocked around pretty well I have to say. "  
She failed at hiding her smirk.  
\- " Well I guess it must pale in comparison to advanced tactical training... "  
\- " Still, the uniform doesn't do you justice. " - she eyed me up and down, down and up...

I couldn't say anything. I'm usually not lost in flirting, but this wasn't some random alien or diplomat, and empty gestures. Or not so empty gestures from someone I haven't met before. This was my subordinate. Was she aware of this fact, I wondered. Pondering this caused me to remain silent until my time to answer was up.  
\- " Tell me, are you required to use protection? " - what protection, where, I must've looked at her pretty dumb - " You know, during the sessions. " - Ohh...  
\- " No. " - I shrugged - " But, if you use protection, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose? "  
\- " I meant gloves. " - she pointed to where she dropped hers - " Contrary to popular belief, they protect only your knuckles, not the opponent's head. " - we glanced at each other again - " You don't use them because you never expect to be hit, or to hit someone. "  
\- " Getting hit in an actual confrontation is perfectly enough for me, thank you very much. "  
\- " You know what prepares you, for getting hit in the face in an _actual confrontation?_ "  
I raised my brows, she leaned forward, grinning:  
\- " _Getting hit in the face._ "

Chuckling and shaking my head, I took a deep breath - " I've never understood.., beautiful women, so engaged in fighting.. something so violent. What drew you to it? "  
\- " I grew up in the heart of a large city, very close to the Klingon outpost within it. Perhaps.., I was irrevocably damaged early on. "  
\- " Mhm, Klingon influence, huh? "  
\- " Not just but.. the urban environment, we don't grow up in closed off, protective families, but in much larger communities, and you know the way kids can be. I don't mean to say every Naraahl who makes it past her teens is lucky, it's not so serious of course, but still. I liked to be able to stand up for myself, aand, I guess I got stuck. "  
\- " What about when you've moved to Earth? "  
\- " Being assertive and having a strong presence works wonders on humans too, like instant respect. I don't think there's anything wrong with people fearing you, just a little. "  
I smirked - " Yeah.. " - I had to agree with that. Being a Captain had those perks, would be lying if I said I didn't like it.  
\- " And if you want the truly honest answer, I like winning. Getting up in somebody's face, saying: ha-ha, I'm better than you! is a part of life. There isn't a more profound competition to win in, than a brawl. "  
\- " I get that. If a rugged man said that, I wouldn't bat an eye. But why someone like you..? "  
She grinned, nodding and shrugging at the same time - " Are you trying to pay me a compliment..? "  
\- " Maybe I am... " - _the smile that earned me..._

The conversation reaching a natural breathing point, I glanced around again, it was completely dark by then. The many little mushrooms provided a strangely dual ambience, utterly dark and omnious, but with a false sense of security. The occasional sounds and distant howls from the forest reminding we weren't alone. Far from it in fact.

Piper stood up, going through the cuts on her abdomen. She had a glowing shroom on the shore, and the dermal regenerator itself to provide the illumination, I felt like she was posing for me. Fisticuffs and soldiering might not be the most ladylike profession, yet it certainly gave her a body to die for. Debateable, again, if a woman's body should be quite so toned, however I simply couldn't manage to find anything wrong with it. I wasn't a gym rat, but I had my own regimen. Thought I looked pretty good too, but next to Piper, the only fitting adjective became '_average_'. Not that there would be anything wrong with that, mind you, her level may have warranted the _excessive_ attribute in an objective evaluation.

This dermal regenerator, such a marvelous device. Living in the 24th century, people tend to become a bit too used to technology, take their breakthroughs for granted. I was still often amazed by them however. It was taking care of each of these smaller cuts and punctures in a matter of moments. I noted from the corner of my eye that Piper laid onto the shore. When I looked up, she was looking at me, smiling. I raised my brows.

\- " I will need your help on my back.. " - _will you? Just like that? Really?_  
\- " Oh.. " - I disabled my device.  
\- " Oh but.. you know, just go ahead, finish first. "  
_~With you looking at me? Nah.~_ \- " Maybe you can show me how to be quite so fast about it. "  
I needed to stop belittling myself, I realized. I had the four pips after all. If Capitancy depended on who beats up who, she would be the Captain, from at least the female contingent of Voyager anyway, but it didn't depend on that. Not by a long shot.

When I stood on the rock underwater, closest to the shore, the water reached till about my thighs, I could lean over her quite comfortably. I'm sure I could come up with many long baroque sentences about the sight in front of me, in the soft glow of a shroom, but uh.. She had her elbows down, her shoulder-blades and muscles showing very clearly. Their shape was a little different than what I'd be used to seeing, I thought. The crevice of her spinal column was faintly ridged, covered by her signature spots all the way down to her butt. Her butt... Her bottoms barely covered anything, I took a deep breath, suddenly wishing the device would take 10 minutes per cut.

I activated it, it's blue glow lighting up her back properly, a few cuts and bruises, nothing too serious. I felt the silence was just about to pass the moment whence its length could be construed as awkward, but then the tricorder started beeping. We've both shook a little, her head snapping up, something was coming. I leaned back, she got up, squatting by her backpack, grabbing the machete next to it, retrieving the blade from the sheath.

We glanced at each other, but then resumed looking unfocused to a random point, trying to listen. She had her hand in her pack, I'd guess fishing for the second tricorder. She didn't get it though, not before a dark shade passed in front of the nearest orange shrooms, on the same side of the lake. It was eery, the animal made absolutely no sound whatsoever. With the mushrooms in the lake, and the one on the shore, as it came closer we were finally able to see more than its faint outline.

I felt a void where my heart was supposed to be, a paralyzing cringe skittering through my body. It was furry, black or at least dark brown, two white eyes glinted in the dim light. A second later, its mouth moved, revealing a set of vicious and pointy teeth, together with the most ominous, low, subtle growl. Without a warning or anything further, it charged at us, well mostly at Piper.

I practically jumped backwards, away from the shoreline, she must've done something very similar, falling into the water next to me, pointing and waving the machete during the action. I had to blink a few times, next I saw the animal halted at the edge of the water, snarling and growling quite easily audibly this time.

It was huge, very similar in shape to a feline from Earth, something along the lines of a large jungle tiger. Its fore legs thick and robust, clawed, its jaw wide and lined with too many teeth to count, the perfect manifestation of natural predatory prowess. Part of me was short-circuited, declaring this as the end of the line. This thing will eat us in the next few minutes, if we are lucky. The next few seconds if we are not.

As it stepped along the shore, put its paw on the backpack, immediately shoving it backwards, planting the paw on the rock instead. I saw Piper emerge from the water, looking in the only direction any of us could've possibly looked at the time. The animal wasn't without its majestical beauty, there was a longer, full mane on its chest, and on its back beyond its skull, the tips of the hairs brighter, maybe white even, but that made little difference at the time.

Apparently annoyed by the water, it kept growling, then tiptoeing around the very edge of the shoreline. I felt it wasn't an _if_ but a _when_... When would it decide to come after us in the water. Instinctually, I swam backwards to the other shore, Piper followed too. As we would've reached the other side, the beast established that getting across the inner, cliffed side wasn't possible without getting wet, but it quickly switched to the outer rim, walking along the thin rocky edge without a hint of hesitation. With a lightning quick jump it attacked from the shore, I was barely fast enough to pull away, and not get caught in the massive arc of its paw. Growling again, it moved further to Piper, but she was far enough away by then.

Completely at a loss of what to do, we had a machete, good, maybe we could nick it as it eats us. I was glaring at it, my mind mostly occupied by an imaginary timer, trying to approximate the 'when' of it jumping in the water. And what would I possibly do when that happens. Unless Piper could push the blade right through its ribcage, this would end badly in the water, on the ground, in the air, absolutely anywhere. The chances of her doing that were low, even if I wanted to believe she was an adept fighter. She was actually, but against people, not a beast like this.

I heard something from behind me, and saw the animal shift its focus to the same place. I snapped around, saw Piper climbing out of the pool.  
\- " ... Piper! No! " - I barely managed to utter the words, the predator was already on its way around again. She's grabbed something from her backpack, seemingly steeling herself, holding the blade in front. It looked like a learned form, but come on, she couldn't have possibly believed she had a chance here. She tapped the tip of the blade down, flicking it on the rock, making a screeching noise, the edge flashing in the orange light.

The beast craned, or maybe that was just wishful thinking, it still looked like it would take a more strategic approach to eating her than simply charging this time. Her reprieve lasted only a second or two though, it sidestepped, snarling, and jumping her anyway.

The human mind looses its capability to record things in the most crucial moments, I have no idea what exactly happened next. I remember Piper screaming, the beast whimpering, a clash, sounds that I would rather forget altogether. The end result was the beast yowling near the upward cliff, holding a leg awkwardly, but resetting its strategical '_I'm still going to eat you_' posture pretty rapidly anyway. Piper was squatting with a knee down, leaning forward, the tip of the blade down on the rock too, her weight on it. Mostly I could only see her outline, but with an orange shroom in the distance, I could infer quite clearly something was dripping from her abdomen.

The painful, half-swallowed noises coming from her suggested there was much more wrong with her than with the predator. She held onto the package though, I heard it rip open, out of sight. The beast charged forward, she jumped backwards, retreating but slashing the blade across in front of her twice. That particular movement looked like it in ended in a draw, the creature apparently didn't intend to run so blindly into the hurt again. I was sure she had a plan, but she needed time, time our friendly neighborhood eating machine wouldn't grant. I had the bright idea to yell out, not sure what, splashing the water toward it.

The act managed a scare, instead of charging again, and quite possibly killing her that time, it sidestepped out of the way, shaking its head and mane, growling with anger, snarling, its attention returning to Piper immediately. I did it again, let's see who gets bored sooner. The result was similar, it moved further along, almost behind Piper now from my perspective. Again, my mind partly short-circuited, that was a good idea while it lasted.

It only needed to last so long however, Piper managed to complete her intention, lighting up a flare. This was no fancy Starfleet technology, like a lamp or some such, no, this was a torch. It frizzled and crackled, spewing a few sparks, then settling into a heavily smoking, extremely brightly shizzling white fire. The glare lit up our surroundings as the sun would.

The beast leaned a lot closer to the ground in its sudden fright, pulling in its head, its ears bumping in a previously unseen manner. Piper held the torch in front of herself, waving it, going on the offensive. I doubt she had any intention of daring too much closer to it, but she didn't need to. Against the glaring light I don't think it could even see her properly, let alone finding a spot to bite at, it jumped backwards, narrowing those brightly glistening eyes. I heard Piper heave and cough, taking a step in the same direction, the beast flinched, vanishing into the dark forest without another sound.

The air remained frozen for the next maybe two seconds, Piper took a step back, falling down, the machete clattering on the ground. She mumbled something, producing a combination of hissing and moaning.  
\- " Piper! " - I yelled out, the adrenaline letting my mind switch and reinitialize, she was obviously hurt, and I had to do something.

I was out of the meadow faster than I thought possible. Once again, my heart skipped a beat as I looked upon her, she was mauled by the animal, evidenced by three massive, parallel lacerations on her abdomen. I fell to my knees next to her, she was whimpering, breathing rapidly, likely in shock. Convulsively holding the torch, I could see the extent of the damage quite clearly.

\- " Captain.. " - she put her head down, a few twitches coursing through her body.  
\- " I'm here.. it's alright, you're going to be alright.. " - I told her but... The dermal regenerator I was still holding wouldn't do much here. Blood was oozing from the entire length of the wounds, it may have started by just breaking the skin, but they were deeper on her side.. The beast's claws must've been razor sharp, but not sharp enough, there was some tearing too.

\- " I have to.. " - I started, trying to think about how the hell would I stop her from dying, the medical kit was limited, and stopping the bleeding wasn't so trivial.  
\- " The gel... " - she hissed, pointing toward her backpack - " Just use the gel! " - she swallowed, moaning, I didn't even want to imagine the pain she must've been in. It was painful enough to look at it, let alone live it.  
\- " The gel..? "  
\- " Mine's a combat kit.. " - she continued to whimper as I've finally realized what she was talking about. The medical kit that she brought was one suited for field triage in a deep deployment situation. The gel was nicknamed OmniMed, omni, because it could do everything. Stop bleeding, seal wounds... Except it caused scarring and irritation, a strong burning sensation, etc... It was never used on me, but I knew people who had the pleasure of being acquainted with it. They could cite only one positive thing about the experience: it kept them alive.

If I didn't use it, I would have had to use a multitude of tools and hyposprays to get rid of the blood, seal up whatever was punctured, then seal the wound, and so on and so forth, the Doctor could've done it, but not me. The gel and the stapler, they would have to do. The animal crossed my thoughts again, but I quickly dismissed it. If it came back, we were dead, fair and square, waste of time to think about it. Even if leaving her would have been a remotely concievable option, I had nowhere to hide. But it won't come back - I told myself, it was an animal, driven by instinct, scared and injured, no way it would come back. Not for a while anyway, not unless it was desperate for food. Couldn't imagine us being the only thing to eat in this damn jungle.

I hastily opened the box, retrieving the instrument. It came with a sonic atomizer, not unlike a miniature and focused sonic shower, evaporating liquids, preparing the wound surfaces for the gel. My remembrances of the training I received on doing this were foggy, but it was made in a foolproof manner. I planted my hand down on her body, glancing at her tear-filled eyes for a moment.  
\- " This is going to hurt. "  
Piper glared back at me suggestively, swallowing, her breathing slowing into a deeper rythm temporarily. I pressed the buttons, the atomizer started to scatter the blood that has collected, she hissed, her body twitching. Soon after, I flicked another switch, dosing the gel. The warm substance oozed into the crevice, the effects were immediate.

She groaned, gasping - " Fuuck... " - her muscles spasmed, likely only making it worse.  
\- " Try to relax.. " - I uttered, not diverting my attention.  
\- " You relax! " - she continued to moan, trying to supress it with heavier breathing.  
I managed to keep my hand as steady as possible, finishing the first laceration in one continuous movement. She leant up to look at it for a moment, her face suggesting she was in massive amounts of pain.

\- " Let me give you a sedative.. "  
\- " No! "  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " No, I don't want to be numbed and high if it comes back! Just do it! "  
Fine, her concerns were understandable. Time was of the essence after all, we couldn't wait for a targeted anesthetic to take hold, she would bleed out by then. I started treating the second cut. Her groans were lower and deeper this time, she covered her face with her elbows, not looking or anything, just controlling herself.

I allowed her a few breaths before moving onto the third wound. She remained almost completely silent, eventually whispering something long and dense. I didn't recognize the language, likely Naraahl. Somehow I was completely certain it was no prayer, making me glad she spared me the meaning.

I was switching tools as she moved her arms from her head, glancing at my work.  
\- " The stapler.. "  
Yeah, I knew what I was doing, thank you very much. The stapler, as its nickname would suggest, was an automatic stitching tool, designed to close wounds in a quick and functional manner. It fired some sort of elastic polymer through the skin, locking it back into itself, pulling the lacerations shut. Piper's whole body twitched with the first shot, swallowing the scream. The best course of action I thought, was to keep going, no pause no nothing, just be done with it as quickly as possible. Watching her cringe at every single one was terrible, my stomach churned in sync. Each of them less than an inch apart, it took too many to count to close her up.

She tried to lean up as I was finished of course, had to push her back down.  
\- " Don't move. "  
Piper sighed, whimpering. I half expected her to pull through with a pokerface, but I've realized I wouldn't want to meet the woman who could keep a straight face during such an ordeal. She kept snuffling while I tinkered with a hypospray, getting a damn anesthetic loaded up finally. I'd be damned if I let her go through this without a painkiller. Wasn't sure about the correct dosage, I've just injected her all over the eviscerated area. She didn't complain...

There was a separate sonic atomizer laying about on the rock, knocked out of her bag when the animal was here. Essentially the technological equivalent of a towel, more effective but completely void of the comforts of a plush fabric. Perfect for camping though. I ran it over her abdomen, liquids getting evaporated into fine dust. Everything was bloodied, it wasn't easy to stay focused. Her belly button was filled with the stuff, her bikini was stained, but at least the wound was sealed.

It wasn't a pretty job, the cuts were still visible, but the gel would be taking care of things, hastening the healing process, creating scar tissue, restoring the natural barrier between her innards and the outside world. The Doctor would no doubt have a few snide comments about my butchery, but he can get rid of the scars no problem. I took comfort from the fact that Piper's abs would be restored to their impeccable perfection just as soon we would return to Voyager.

She tried to get up again...  
\- " Stay down! "  
\- " But the... we should.. " - I pushed her down harder.  
\- " You musn't move! "  
\- " The tent, we nee.. "  
\- " I will take care of it! "  
\- " I can help.. "  
\- " You've done enough, Piper.. " - I put down the gadget, moving my hand to flick the hair out of her face, caressing her cheek - " That's twice you saved both our lives since we've crashed, you've earned a little break. "

She put her hand on my arm, putting very little strength into the effort, and I wasn't about to let her go - " The gel will.. "  
\- " The gel works better if you don't move! I remember the manual. Please... " - she exhaled, finally giving up - " How's the pain? "  
\- " Better I guess.. " - she moaned, not quite convincing.  
\- " Keep laying down, slow breaths, try not to do anything with your abs. " - she let go of my arm, moving her hand down - " And no touching it before the gel turns! "  
She nodded, snuflling, blinking a few tears out of her eyes - " I'm sorry, Captain.. "  
\- " For what?! "  
\- " For nearly getting myself killed... Maybe there would've been a b.. "  
\- " Shh.. You did good. You did very good. " - I caressed her again.  
\- " If you don't scare it wh.. "  
\- " If you're not out there, it wouldn't have mattered what I do. " - I tried to rub her shoulder in a motivational kind of way - " Rest, if you need anything I'll be right around.. "

She nodded, gazing opaquely, the adrenaline must've been clearing, some measure of calm returning to her eyes... I wanted to stand up, but found it hard to let her go. There were so many things I suddenly wanted to do, however I've found myself embarassed and diffident as well. I wouldn't be so touchy-feely with others, I realized, in hopes she wouldn't pick up on it.  
Forcing the issue, I stood up, looking around. I was still in my shorts, and my bra, all wet, my hair as well. Our bags were around in a mess, not exactly because of the surprise attack... Apart from being alive, this crashlanding was a mess from the start. First the insects, then we get away, and manage to get caught with our pants halfway off... The tent was still packed tightly in its bag.. Nobody took a closer look at the subspace beacon yet... I could go on. It was time to pick up the slack.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~4~ :: The Night..._


	4. The Night

**Author's Note: **_Sorry for the delay, got swallowed by Visual Studio while writing a program that draws fractals. If you want to continue following this story then please remember that at some point it will be switched to 'Mature' rating, which means it will NOT be listed on the front page by default (because the default setting is K through T ratings)_

**Chapter ~4~ :: The Night**

**.**

Note to self: never suggest hanging up the bloody tent again. Good thing Ensign Eager put up the pulleys and the ropes already, made my job a lot easier. We've had a conversation about it, whether or not it would be safe at all, in light of getting to know another patron of the jungle. Whatever that thing was, it seemed a safe bet it could climb trees. Still, we have reached the conclusion that regardless of its size and its claws, it would be at a disadvantage attacking the tent from the branch above it. Furthermore, jumping at it would be scary but pointless, it would just bounce off. A Klingon could charge the fabric with a Bath'Let, it wouldn't puncture. Hanging from a branch might feel like an awkward position, it was still safer than anywhere else.

There was still the itch to reinforce our camp's perimeter somehow. Piper made the suggestion that we should... we should pee around in a strategical positions. There were two ways to respond, cringe and pretend Captains never pee, or follow an actually sound idea. We were dealing with animals after all, it was time to think like one. Maybe it wouldn't do anything, maybe it would piss them off, no pun intended, or, and this was the most favorable outcome we could hope for: it would make them think twice about approaching the area. Since we have left our tools to build reinforced fences at home, forcefield emitters wouldn't have worked even if we had them, using the natural byproduct of being alive was the most we could do.

We reconviened under our branch. Piper had her back humped, wouldn't want to stretch her stitched up abdomen too much. The gel treatment was successful, it turned nicely, her body was responding quickly. Still far from being back to normal, but she was on her way. Didn't have time to change from my bra and shorts attire in the meantime, it was still hot in the jungle, and getting that damned tent up there, along with most of our stuff was a taxing endeavor, I really, really wanted another dip in the pond.

She was about to reach down for the atomizer, but I got it for her.  
\- " Thank you.. " - her smile was all the reward I needed - " Time to turn in, isn't it? "  
\- " I'd really like to cool off again... " - I hinted at the meadow - " Are you okay to go up? "  
\- " I'm not going up without you. "  
\- " I'll be fine, its not coming back.. "  
\- " Yes. I'm sure. Go swim. " - she folded her arms, ordering me basically. She had that irresistible smirk on her face, proving she was quite aware how much in the red she was.  
\- " Excuse me, _Ensign_? " - I still asked, jokingly.  
\- " I'm not leaving you down here, Kathryn... "  
\- " I don't want to hold y.. "  
\- " I'm fine.. I still need to change anyway.. just go ahead. "

I could've mentioned we had just stopped being far apart from each other, on opposite sides of the area, but I didn't want to. I rather liked the sentiment. Besides, if our roles were reversed, I wouldn't have gone up either, not even at the threat of cashiering. I smiled warmly, walking to the water. Have to say I was a bit annoyed, could have used some time alone, I don't know why. Maybe to ask myself what exactly do I think is going on. Get these unbecoming and confusingly naughty thoughts out of my head. Couldn't do that with her around.

Piper remained on the shore, using the atomizer to clean and completely dry herself, her hair. That gadget was a Godsend, I figured out I've left mine in the shuttle.. The irony that the unruly security chick had the more thought out pack for this journey wasn't lost on me. My only defense, she had time to think on how to put it together, because she did it on Voyager, not when the damn insects were banging on the hull of our crashed shuttle. I could barely see her in the dark, but I could still figure when she took off her bikini... I tried not to think about it, minding my own business. I was doing the same in the water after all.

I asked for the atomizer when I was about to get out.  
\- " You needn't hurry because of me.. "  
\- " That was all I needed Piper. "

She was by the small rockface, I a few steps away, back at my bag. Trying to somehow tell myself the surroundings were just as dark for her as they were for me... Getting myself dry and changing into some night clothes wouldn't be 'posing' in front of her, unlike as a part of my mind tried so desperately to convince me. I caught glimpses of her, looking at the water. Then I was jealous, at the water. Why wasn't she checking me out? I don't know what was the bigger mess, the one we were in, or the one in my head. Anyway, strategically placing myself away from the glowing shrooms accomplished one thing for certain: I couldn't see squat. Whatever, we were on our way up soon enough.

Getting inside the tent wasn't as hard as its positioning might suggest. Piper put up the ropes so that we could ferry it close to the trunk, whereby getting inside it became a much simpler enterprise, then using the pulleys, we could drag it into position. With Piper's injury, the act wasn't so painless for her, but she got through quickly enough.

I pulled us along the branch, a good 6 meters away from the trunk. Let's see our friendly neighborhood tiger jump this far... This tent, I hope its designer was given a medal, it was spacious yet compact, simple yet comfortable. I put up two extra ropes to its two ends, so it wouldn't tilt in those directions, as for the others, it was double bottomed, allowing some leeway, keeping the inside level, even if it was slightly imbalanced.

From the outside it looked like a weird tube, a bit flattened on its bottom. Inside, two 'bedspreads' were next to each other, some extra space by the end for a few bags, the others I hung up outside to the same rope as the tent. We've had our machete on hand, a few knives too. Maybe I was kidding myself, but I honestly believed we were perfectly safe in there. The only thing that worried me was waking up to a flock of hungry beasts sitting underneath the tent, waiting. Without ranged weapons to speak of, we were restricted to throwing flares at them, and hoping it would work a second time.

I put on a skimpier sleeveless nightgown than I would on Voyager most of the time. It wasn't all that long, so panties were mandatory. Piper was wearing... well if I used 'skimpy' for my nightgown, I couldn't very well use the same word for her tank top. Her boyshorts were bite-sized too, both off-white and red, with stylish Starfleet patterns. I remembered myself, wearing Starfleet merch at the Academy... I've found it nicely refreshing to see such clothes on her. I picked up on her glaring at me, glaring right back suggestively.

\- " You're still covered with cuts, Kathryn. "  
\- " Oh, nevermind that.. "  
As if not hearing me, she retrieved the medikit on hand in the tent, leaning to the side, her injury made her flinch - " It will only take a few minutes. "  
\- " It's not neccessary. "  
She bored into me with her eyes, letting out a soft sigh - " So the pond is sterile then? "  
\- " The atomizer made them sterile. "  
\- " You're gonna regret it in the morning. "

Some of my cuts burned still. Most of them burned hellishly when I was sweaty a few minutes ago. Squirming around in bed threatened with unpleasantness. I hated when she was right. Especially since I knew damn well I would need the treatment, I was simply being stupid. It would require some further nakedness. What exactly bothered me about being locked together with her, I wondered.

Was it that she was lesbian? If the term even applies, she was the only Naraahl in the quadrant, yet her sex life didn't stop, I was quite aware of that. The amount of words invented to describe interspecies attractions and sexual identities was staggering, and I've found all of them universally pointless and dumb. The point being, when she looks at me, she wouldn't be neutral. I had a strong feeling I would still be less comfortable with a man here. Would be more comfortable with a gay man though. Would I be more comfortable if she was human? I made a mental note to remember these philosophical issues when I'm back on Voyager and I have time to ponder them.

Guess I wasn't moving, with all those thoughts in my head, so she's decided to take initiative in the meantime. Touching my arm softly, she pushed..  
\- " Lay down.. "

Yeah... why don't I... My heart was pounding heavily. ~_YOU'RE NOT SIXTEEN ANYMORE!_ ~ that didn't help. Fairly certain it actually pounded less when I was sixteen... Chastely, I followed her direction. I was done with my arms before the interruption, she started on my legs. _Conversation_!  
\- " How did you know the flare would scare it away? "  
She appeared a teeny bit surprised by the question, mission accomplished - " I... didn't. "  
\- " Why did you get out of the pond then? "  
\- " Hope... I guess. I've spent enough time with humans to embrace the concept. "  
\- " Naraahl don't share it? "  
\- " I guess we must, to some extent, it feels like an elementary evolutionary trait. Still, my culture is older than yours, we've been content for a lot longer without daring, without hoping for more. "  
\- " Well I remember reading about a Naraahl empire.. "  
She chuckled softly - " The Romulan Star Empire is an empire.. We had a few starsystems, and legendary stories half of which were never true. "

I don't know what she did with the dermal regenerator, but it hurt. That usually never hurts. Tickles and tingles maybe... I hissed a little, moving the knee she was working on. Granted it was bruised perhaps a bit worse than the device's capabilities could fix.  
\- " Sorry... " - she smiled, not really stopping.  
Why would she smile? - " That never hurts when the Doctor does it.. " - I thought I would risk being little snide.  
\- " Well, I do look a lot better than him, do I not? " - she bit her lip, a most coquettish expression if I ever saw one - " I guess it's like apples and oranges.. "  
That didn't settle my curiosity.. - " But uhm... What did you do? "  
\- " ... I narrowed the beam... " - she grabbed my knee as she said that, apparently 'narrowing the beam' again, inducing a sharp, prickle-like pain spike.

I didn't want to seem a softie, but I couldn't just pretend she was the best nurse in Starfleet... I made an ouch noise, which didn't really phase her, she kept focusing on what she was doing, grabbing my knee even harder. There it was again, the pain, I'm not above admitting I whimpered a little.  
\- " Shh.. "

Okay, so it seemed everything was going according to plan on her end, that provided some reassurance. The painful parts became longer, I forced myself to remain completely silent, if not just a bit tense. Finally, after another a minute she was done, rubbing the treated surface...  
\- " There.. wasn't so bad, was it? "

I gave her a questioning look, rubbing the same spot myself, it was completely healed...  
\- " Not my fault you bruised your leg! Normally that would've needed that... little pistol-like rod the Doctor has? "  
\- " Yeah, there's one right there in my medical kit! "  
\- " Oh. " - she raised her brows for a moment, bursting into laughter - " Well I don't know how to use that anyway... "  
\- " So I guess you've picked up this narrowing the beam from your self-treating sessions? "  
\- " _Perhaps_. " - she grinned cheekily.

After about a minute, she reached under my gown so casually it was scary. I must've twitched or something..  
\- " Shyness doesn't become you, Kathryn. "  
\- " That was a bit.. sudden. "  
\- " Uhm.. could you roll up your gown please, so that we may see the rest of your injures? "  
\- " No need to get caustic. "

I squirmed around to lift it up, trying desperately to look confident in doing so. Goosebumps began blanketing random regions of my body though. Meanwhile I reached the conclusion that I wouldn't be comfortable with anyone doing this. Not even the Doctor, except then it would be a few orders of magnitude easier to convince myself of being silly.  
\- " Fancy adjective.. " - she grinned, sparing any further jokes, just activating the gadget.  
There was absolutely no reason to put her fingers on me, her tendency to 'narrow the beam' didn't raise my comfort level either, however at least she was working fast.  
\- " Guess we are not going any higher, huh? " - she glanced up at me, smirking.  
\- " I wasn't cut there. " - there was this voice in my head compelling me to give her a lecture about proper behaviour in the presence of one's Captain. It was doing battle with this other voice declaring how much I liked this. I wanted a vacation, well I got it. This girl seemed to give zero thought to who I actually was half the time.  
\- " Hmm.. well turn around then. " - I started doing so - " Afraid I might be looking at you like _that_, huh? " - I was SO glad to have turned around by the time she finished that, only hearing her soft snickering - " Who knows, maybe I am. " - was that another compliment? It sounded like... more. _Red alert, shields up._

\- " You know, since we have already mentioned the Doctor, you do look better than him.., " - damn it, I could've left that remark out -" but I'm not sure about your bedside manner. "  
I heard her laugh heartily - " Is it similar? "  
\- " Mhm.. "  
\- " In what way? ... Oooh, there's a bad one here.. " - she reached under my shirt, raising it further on my back, I didn't see it obviously, but her assessment sounded about right from the pain levels I've felt from there.  
\- " You don't seem to mind getting your patients uncomfortable. "  
\- " Am I making you uncomfortable? "  
I didn't answer.  
\- " Well, " - narrowing the damn beam again.. - " that was not my intention. I guess I ought to be straight with you... " - she chuckled, yes, hilarious - " My preconceptions about you were way off, I'm impressed by you. "

\- " Thank you. " - I said as graciously as possible, staring down my pillow. What exactly were her preconceptions about me? Perhaps I should've asked her, but why ruin these perfectly flirty moments that were wreaking havoc in my head?  
The conversation was dried until she finished.  
\- " All done! " - I glanced up, turning back - " My turn! "  
She threw herself down casually, immediately hissing, puffing into her pillow, her hand on her wound - " That was a bit careless.. "  
\- " Are you okay? "  
She took a breath first - " Yeah... "

I knelt up, taking in the view again, with her facing away. Contemplated her words, should I be telling her how irresistible I found her to be? How she confused me? How I wanted so much more than just looking at her body? I swallowed, shaking my head, starting up the regenerator. I worked in silence. Her spots were so beautiful too, I was afraid if I say anything I would give myself away..

\- " Turn over a little.. " - my fingers brushed her hips, I didn't mean to do that. Oh but yes, I did. Wanted to look over her wounds again. Her abdominal area was so slender, her thighs, her butt so perfectly toned, frankly I was dizzy, I couldn't quite make sense of the intensity of this attraction.  
\- " Hell of a thing you did... " - my mind defaulted to talking about this other thing unable to escape my thoughts - " That was the bravest thing I've ever seen.. "  
\- " I'm sure you've stared down worse.. "  
\- " Nothing so primal... " - I looked at her face, her eyes glancing at me by then - " There's a quality to a beast like that... which Borg or whatever in another ship kilometers away from us just do not have. "  
\- " Audacity is the measure of soldiers... "  
\- " ...for it is not the size of the person in a fight, but the size of the fight in a person. " - I finished it for her.

She let out a soft chuckle.  
\- " It's one thing to know fancy quotes from old admirals, and another to act on them. "  
Piper turned to her back, pulling her legs up, looking up at the ... ceiling?  
\- " I always liked being called audacious, maybe even more than gorgeous. " - what I got from that statement was her being much too aware of how gorgeous she was. I'm ashamed to admit this smug self-assuredness was only making her more attractive.  
\- " What inspires you? "  
\- " Not long after I arrived on Earth, I was at a museum, don't really remember which, but there was a Starfleet Medal of Honor on display. Underneath, it said: _'Awarded for acts of conspicious gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of death, above and beyond the call of duty.'_ " - she blinked, looked away - " I can barely make it through that sentence, I don't know why... " - she glanced back at me, her eyes glinting - " I guess I just want to be a hero. "

\- " What if it gets you killed? "  
\- " Then I'll rot in a coffin, just like _everybody else_ will one day. Except... _I, will be a hero._ "  
I nodded, my brow furrowed a little. Spoken like a true Klingon, would have been an awesome thing to say. Or maybe not.  
\- " Could we talk about something less serious Kathryn? "  
I chuckled, taking a deep breath, putting away the medical kit, laying down on my side.

\- " Like what? "  
\- " I don't know... How are you finding your vacation? "  
Thinking for a second, I told her: - " Eventful. You? "  
\- " I enjoy the change of scenery, hells know I needed one. "  
\- " Why? "  
\- " Oh please, I ain't gonna bore you with my problems. "  
\- " Wouldn't be a good Captain if my crew's problems bored me.. "  
She chuckled - " What about you? Who listens to your problems? "  
No one. The bulkheads. My pillow. Perfect answers. I guess I missed my oppurtunity to answer.

\- " Do you at least say them out loud? "  
\- " I do keep a quite.. involved log. "  
\- " I've never gotten into that. ... Come on, lay it on me. A problem. "  
I glanced at her glancing at me, then sighed, turning off the lights - " Good night Piper. "  
\- " Oh come on! You ain't doing that to me! " - she raised her voice, keeping it cute. Again, it felt like she wasn't even from Voyager. A proper Captain would have told her that her candor was appreciated, and hint not-quite-so-subtly to shutting the hell up. I didn't.  
\- " Aren't I? "  
\- " Come on! It's liberating, trust me. Just tell me, anything. "  
Well screw it then, I thought - " One of the letters I received... It was a Dear John letter. From Mark. " - why would I bring that up? What the hell was wrong with me?  
\- " Hmm.. " - I heard her articulate - " Who's Mark? ... Who's John? "  
I snickered - " It's a turn of phrase. "  
\- " How do you turn a phrase? "

We both paused, but then started laughing.  
\- " I know what it means.. Who's Mark tho'? "  
\- " He was my fiance .. "  
\- " Ooh... " - she cooed, pausing - " So uhm, this is when I'm supposed to say something comforting.. "  
\- " You don't have to. "  
\- " I can't, really. This love, marriage, etc. business seems insane to me. "  
\- " Maybe that's a blessing. "  
\- " That's not a maybe, that's a fact. I didn't know you were engaged. I thought Captains were... independent. "  
\- " I can be engaged and independent? "  
\- " I don't think so. Marriage is like.. defeat, resignation. I'm done with my life so I will spend the rest of it with this other looser who was willing to settle. "  
Wow, that was harsh. I turned toward her in the darkness - " I hope you don't intend to be a counsellor after you're done soldiering. "  
\- " Nah... " - she chuckled - " Seriously though, you should see this as a blessing. Finally you've been freed from the unconditional fidelity expectation which was insane in the first place; the pointless, unfounded hoping... "

\- " I thought you liked hope. "  
\- " Hope is the quintessential human delusion simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness. "  
That sounded too well craft - " Is that from something? "  
\- " Maybe it is. Does that make it less true? "  
\- " Perhaps I was ready to hope. To settle with some looser. "  
\- " No, _apparently_ you were ready to captain a ship, guide your crew back the long way. Let this Mark get bored to tears with some hag, you have better things to do. " - I heard her squirming around, turning to her side, hissing, choosing her other side instead.  
\- " Wish it were that simple. "  
\- " Make it simple. It's all in your head. "

I glanced at her, with a few flaps open some illumination came in from the phosphorescent plantlife. Her eyes were closed, that was a fitting final accord. All just in my head, huh? It was in my heart. I remembered reading the letter, the way my heart sunk. I wanted to scream and destroy my quarters, remove the photographs, all memorabilia, but then I decided against it. Perhaps she was right, I should've done it sooner. Or perhaps a human shouldn't take life advice from a Naraahl. Although I couldn't help feeling like maybe I should start picking up this 'not giving a damn' she seemed to be an esteemed expert at...

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~5~ :: The Morning..._

_._

_Author's Note: Yes it is from something, from the Architect's speech in the Matrix. One of the greatest scenes in movie history. Sue me._


	5. The Morning

**Chapter ~5~ :: The Morning**

**.**

Piper packed endothermic cartridges, forget the phaser overload, this was her best idea yet. By absorbing energy they've cooled off the tent nicely, I could actually sleep. It took quite a while to manage to cross over to the land of dreams. Piper certainly gave me stuff to think about. Why was she so candid? How can this young girl dispense with rank and everything just like that? And why was I incapable of handling it? This was the bigger question. I was never attracted to women. There was something about Piper though... Couldn't quite put my finger on why, nevertheless she may as well have had a Janeway magnet somewhere inside her. My well educated, analytical mind had its own excuses of course. For example, I've known about..._ the effect_ she had on other women on the crew, from the personnel and/or criminal reports crossing my desk, and now I'm projecting that onto myself. People quickly dismiss these inner intricacies of the mind as practically unproveable hogwash, I wasn't on that opinion, but I was unwilling to accept that this attraction wouldn't be anything more than a construct in my head. To some extent _everything_ is only a construct in my head, however.. let's not overthink this.

Waking earlier, my first instinct would have been to get up, but then I realized circumstances were different. Wouldn't want to wake Piper by shuffling around too much, moving the tent, causing it to swing, so on so forth... With the sun up, there was enough light to look around inside, to see her perfectly. She scooched closer to the edge, half on her side, half on her back. One of her legs pulled up, an arm behind her, the other under her pillow. Her thick, fluffy hair all over the place... She was so.. incredible. Remembrances of her raspy, husky voice pealed in my head as I was drawn to her faintly parted rose-hued lips and soft flair of nostrils as she kept snoozing easily.

Cold shivers were zapping across me, I felt my pulse increase. All those lovely scores of spots on her bright skin, on her shoulder, her nipples pressed against the thin fabric... I wanted to touch her, inch closer and snuggle, grope, wanted her to hold me in her embrace with those strong arms and... do bad things to me. My eyes wandered further down, frowning at the cuts on her abdomen, but then a little lower, when I'm fairly certain my heart stopped for a second. Several maybe. There was a sizeable, unmistakeable bulge in her shorts. Granted it has been a while since I saw something like that, perhaps too long, however... recognizing these things is a lot like bike riding.

I rubbed the dream out of my eyes, wondering if I might not even be awake. But I was. It was really there. _Was I a complete fool_, I wondered. Naraahl... They weren't the focus of xenobiology classes, they weren't a Federation species, so I didn't know much about them, but she... 'she' was on my crew. Sure, what's going on in the pants of my people are not strictly my business, but how could I miss this? No wonder she is so popular with the girls...

Piper moved, looked like she wanted to arch her back, deciding against it, touching her wound. She sniffed and moaned softly, squirming onto her back. Her hand went down *there*, grabbing it and... The movement felt so natural, I really wasn't seeing things after all. I narrowed my eyes lest she opens hers and sees me gawking. The effect was so profound, my mouth gaped, felt almost dizzy, spiraling into a void of crazy. There had to be a variable active here, something I didn't think of before. This was too intense. I couldn't imagine I would be this highly strung... I've survived 5 years without inti.. sex. I'm sure some part of me was already very upset about that, but in all those 5 years I have never felt like this before. This attraction, this is why it was there. We might regard her as a woman, because she looks like one, but she wasn't one, clearly. The dick is one thing, feromones and who knows what else, that had to be source of this crushing grip on my daydreams. My inexplicable attraction toward her suddenly wasn't so inexplicable anymore. I knew gender identity often needed to be thrown out the window when dealing with alien lifeforms, however, this was still unexpected and astonishing.

She purred, squirming around, turning away to her other side. Part of me was glad, part of me wanted to see more of her fondling herself... Maybe it was just morning, or maybe she had a wet dream.. maybe about me. _~NO SHE DIDN'T YOU STUPID COW!~_ my dissociative identity barked at me, ripping me back into reality. What the hell was I thinking? A sudden fear crept into my mind, frightened that her flirty tendencies would obviously going to continue now, what if she wants to do a lot more than sweet compliments.. Even scarier what if I want to? These thoughts kept twisting my conscious for several minutes until finally she turned back. I closed my eyes, going into hiding. Couldn't keep them closed for too long though, we were suddenly glancing at each other.

\- " Good morning... " - she whispered.  
\- " Morning... " - I uttered, despite the intense state of freakout I was in. Did she know I didn't know? Would she figure out I know now? Does any of it even matter? I thought about her swimsuit bottoms, they were tight, how could I miss this? Did it grow out of her on command? _That's retarded._ Did she grow it overnight? _That's retarded._ Was it still there? I didn't dare look.

She was still super sleepy, yawning, moaning into her pillow softly. It struck me suddenly that we would be in this tent even if everything went according to plan. If we never crash here. Didn't she have any reservations about getting morning wood with her _damn Captain_ in a tent somewhere? I had a lot to learn about '_not giving a fuck_' still. Nevertheless, my mind raced, wanting to get out of this situation. We are two adults caught in shitty circumstances, hanging from a branch on an alien planet, getting my mind out of the gutter and acting like a sane person instead of a sex-starved cow getting horny for a tween alien hottie was well overdue.

\- " How's your wound? "  
I sat up. Yes, I glanced at her crotch, the bulge was gone. Maybe not completely, these shorts weren't tight at all, some of those creases could have been more than creases but uhm, suffice it to say, whatever she had in there was offline. I fetched the tricorder. Her tricorder. It was black and red, slim and thin, holographic screens and controls. Red Squad equipment. It had less scientific uses, but had a robust interface, better at hacking and overloading alien stuff. Medical features were built in, less than in a proper medical tricorder, but more than a normal one. Hovering it over her wound, I was taken aback, something other than her beauty _(,or that other thing)_ this time.

\- " This is incredible, scar tissue formation is already complete, no inflammation, no signs of infection... "  
\- " The Vigor of Kav'Raahl. "  
\- " Hmm? "  
\- " Kav was a titan, who - _supposedly_ \- pulled our planet from the darkness, carrying it onto the sky on his back. "  
\- " I see. And you are his direct descendant? "

She snickered cutely, her eyes glinting at me - " I suppose _we all_ must be, huh..? Due to the nature of our reproductive process, our genes are highly... shall we say calibrated, refined. This manifests itself as natural fitness, hasty regeneration, longevity, etc.. "  
\- " And you call it the Vigor of Kav'Raahl? "  
\- " And we call it the Vigor of Kav'Raahl. "

The nature of their reproductive process. That part didn't just fly past me. I was super interested in it now. Wish we were on Voyager, I could have dived into the computer. Find out how could a slender, high-voiced, blonde bombshell have a huge di... _~FOCUS KATHRYN!~  
_\- " Is it still painful? "  
\- " Mhmm, it's tense.. "  
\- " Should we remove the stitches? "  
\- " Later.. " - she moaned clumsily, yawning again.

The yawn was infectous.. - " Care for some coffee then? " - _you're the Captain, stop being Neelix! But she's hurt, needs to be mothered... Needs to be hugged and kisse.. ~FOCUS KATHRYN!~  
_Piper's reply was a less than thrilled moan.  
\- " Don't like coffee? " - I started to prepare my little kit, portable kettle, water from the lake _(which I put in here the day before, the neat and tidy, meticulous lady that I am)_, instant coffee, so on.  
\- " It's an acquired taste, as they say. "  
\- " That it is. "  
\- " Unfortunately I haven't acquired it yet.. " - she sat up slowly, crosslegged, so much skin, it was dizzying again. Not to mention the way she carded and flicked her hair around.. it was messy but.. in a good way. She was stunning during the day because her makeup was impeccable, she was lovely now because she was simply gorgeous. I glanced at her crotch again. I wasn't always a captain, and maybe sometimes I'd worn clothes sporting a healthy cleavage. I used to notice when people.. hung their gaze. _How long before she would catch me staring at her..?_ ~ I wondered.

\- " Well do you have something else then? "  
\- " Yeah.., I got this.. vanilla thing.. " - she reached for her bag.  
\- " Is it instant? "  
She fetched a few small pockets - " Mhmm.., but it's better with milk. " - Putting her elbow on her knee, she rested her head in her hand, looking at me with the sleepiest face possible.  
\- " Do you have milk? "  
\- " No.. " - she pouted, the cuteness and the sight of those luscious lips melting me... - " Could you replicate some? " - she asked in a high pitch.  
\- " Sure! Let me just pop back to the shuttle real quick.. "  
\- " I'll wait.. "

We kept gazing at each other for a few seconds, her mouth slowly curving into a wide grin, before we both burst out giggling.  
\- " There isn't even a replicator in the shuttle.. "  
\- " And if there was it wouldn't work. "  
We both continued to laugh before sighing, taking a slow, deep breath.. I poured two cupfuls of steaming water. I was used to the smell of coffee, but the powder she used had this sweet, vanilla odor. Reaching for her pack again, she fetched a flat, chrome tankard. It was fancy, with a small window on it, revealing the contents to be green. She added a hearty dose to her beverage, then held it up, offering it to me.

\- " What is it? "  
\- " It's uhm... " - Piper glanced at the flask, shrugging - " It is green. "  
I smiled, biting my lip, and held up my cup. She poured me maybe just a little less than for herself, I was starting to get little apprehensive. She didn't muck around too much with stirring her beverage, taking a large gulp.

\- " Isn't it hot? "  
\- " Scalding... " - she uttered in a low and deep voice, then finished the cup in a few more swift, yet visibly satisfactory gulps. I just kept stirring my coffee, gawking, especially after she put the cup down, licking her glistening lips - " I'm pretty sure I'm going to survive now... "  
I smiled, she laid back down. On her stomach this time, holding her injured side above the sheets a little.  
\- " Didn't this just make you sleepier? " - warm, milky drink with hard liquor in it.., that's recipe for never waking up ever.  
\- " Maybe.. " - she cooed, yawning.

I took a gulp from my coffee... _That 'green', phew..._ The end result wasn't bad, just strong. We were on vacation after all, what do I care... I put a hand down as if stabilizing myself, leaning toward her head.  
\- " I'm going to scout around, try and see if we are safe here. "  
\- " I'll go with you. " - she didn't even open her eyes.  
\- " Nonsense, Vigor of Kav'Raahl or not, you look like you need some more shuteye.. "  
Instead of protesting, which I expected, she merely asked: - " Could you not go then? "  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " Please don't leave me here, Kathryn.. " - an eye glanced up from between her strawberry blonde locks with that bewildering look, moving an arm to brush my hand with her fingers. I felt my heart throb, prompting me to swallow.

I'm not sure if there was a request I would have denied her in that moment, after she asked like that. Hand over command of Voyager? Done. Well, maybe not that but.. staying? Certainly.  
\- " Alright.. "  
I saw her smile, squirming around a little, making herself comfortable, boring into the pillow. I looked around the tent, I really didn't feel like going back to sleep, even trying to. The beacon!  
\- " I'll work on the beacon then.. "  
\- " Mhmm... " - was all her response.

Smiling ear-to-ear I kept watching her for a minute or two. The casual vibe of this entire morning felt so nice, refreshing. I felt so charged, warmed up inside. Maybe this was some measure of a vacation after all. I didn't stop being crazy about her, but it subsided a little, or perhaps these other warm feelings made the experience less confusing. I found myself caring about her... really cherishing this entire ordeal, to share an adventure with only her, not my senior staff and by extension the rest of my crew, for once.

* * *

That damn subspace transponder wasn't in the most agreeable mood. At least it was able to get my mind off of Piper, temporarily. I tinkered with it for quite a while. Couldn't be sure what exactly damaged it, but some field-like destructive effects have wreaked havoc on its circuits, even though it wasn't connected to any of the shuttle's systems. Either way, I made headway, managing to turn it on. Establishing the signal it should send, not so much, but it used Starfleet carrier waves by default, if I knew my crew at all, that should be plenty.

I've also spent many empty minutes just staring at Piper. I felt, even if we were suddenly trapped in confinement beams, rematerializing on Voyager, certain things would be irrevocably changed. Part of me wanted more time, much more, before said transporter beams would seize us. Another was wailing in protest, the close calls with two kinds of murderous monsters were more than enough already, the deathly uncertainty if they would come back, if we would run into them again was unnerving. I'm not sure how I was able to cope so well. Maybe it was Piper, whatever was happening between us, that made me continually ignore the mortal danger.

I was writing a log entry into a PADD about our ordeal, when Piper finally moved again. She was out like a light until now, in exactly the same pose she settled into after our good morning drinks. I was sitting, with my back against the tent. She turned over, moaning softly, stretching her extremities, not so much her abdomen. Only half conscious I would guess, she reached under her top, checking if the twins were there still, or maybe they were a little sore from laying on them _or I don't know_, the point is my breathing stopped. A few moments later the hand travelled south, into her shorts. She shuffled or scratched or.. _something_ in there. She must've realized where she was, letting herself go, opening her eyes in a small slit, searching. Upon finding me, she made a few more sleepy squirms and noises.

\- " Morning again.. " - I whispered softly, smiling at her. Then I remembered who I was.  
\- " How long was I out? "  
\- " 'Bout three hours. "  
She stopped moving for a second - " Seriously? " - staring at me with those huge eyes - " Why didn't you wake me or something? "  
\- " I didn't _want_ to wake you. "

The way she smiled, all the reward I needed.  
\- " How.. How long was the night? "  
\- " We've slept about six hours. Days appear to be a great deal shorter here. "  
\- " So it's like midday already? "  
\- " Yes. "  
She spent a short while rubbing the sleep from her eyes - " I'm hungry. "  
I chuckled up, what a child... - " Me too. Did you bring anything? "  
\- " Dehydrated fruits or something, but... I mean, you don't intend to eat rations or such, right? "  
\- " If we want to go find something, you'll have to get up. "  
\- " Hmm.. " - she moaned, gazing upward - " I need to pee too, so guess I'll have to. "

I had to pee for the _past three hours._ Listening to the faint slushing and dripping coming from our garden waterfall made the wait quite an exquisite experience. We started fetching our clothes, then I pulled the tent to the trunk, finding the bathroom, getting dressed, so on and so forth.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~6~ :: My Turn..._

_Author's Note: If you thought that 'green' thing was a little pretentious, I agree. Unfortunately I couldn't resist. If you don't get what this note is about, you are unworthy of Star Trek._


	6. My Turn

**Chapter ~6~ :: My Turn**

.

Piper took her sweet time to show up under the branch, clad in a new outfit. No cleavage this time, greenish brownish digital camo short sleeved top, and matching supertight second-skin type trousers and the ankle-cut boots. She was quite foxy again, that warrior vibe with the machete and the gloves, the big belt, etc. Her hair was loose, remaining a delicous mess. I was fairly certain she reveled in the fact that no uniform code applied here, her long hair was finally free of bondage. Yes, I looked at her crotch again. In these tight bottoms the gap between her thighs looked alien. She was after all, an alien. But I had to wonder where she put her... thing. There was this slight.. hill there? Wouldn't call it a protrusion, or a bulge. Was that it? What the hell happened to it at dawn then? It was so much bigge.._~FOCUS KATHRYN!~_

I resorted to wearing the same outfit as yesterday, different underwear. It was bloody hot again, perhaps a teeny bit less than when we crashed, less humid at least. There was no rain, and it didn't look like there would be, at least not this day.

\- " So, we are going to brave the jungle? " - she started, handing me her tricorder.  
\- " The range on this one is more than two hundred meters, we should be fine. "  
\- " What difference does the range make if we can't defend ourselves? "  
\- " I thought you _wanted_ to go. "  
\- " I do want to go. I just don't want to get killed. "  
\- " Should be safe to assume our evening visitor is not the most common creature around here. "  
\- " Mhmm.. " - she nodded, apprehension was clear on her face.

I stepped close to her - " We don't _need_ to go anywhere Piper, we can stay in the tent.. "  
\- " Do you want to stay in the tent? "  
\- " The Captain does. I want to explore. "  
She grinned, touching her scars - " Mauled Piper wants to stay in the tent, I wanna go. "  
\- " We'll be fine. " - I tried to smile in a motivational kind of way, rubbing her shoulder for some reassurance, and because I wanted to touch her.  
\- " You know, I'm picking up a.. certain _keenness_, from you. " - she narrowed her eyes, grinning - " There wouldn't be another reason to go, would there? "  
\- " Look at this place... " - I glanced around - " I want to explore.., discover things. We barely do this, so caught up in spatial phenomena all the time. This could finally be interesting. "  
She smiled happily, tilting her head - " Which way? "  
\- " That way! " - I pointed toward 'our tree' and beyond it, up the stream that fed our meadow.

Leaving our campsite behind, I would be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive. Still, the thirst for exploration, discovery, drove me forward. Who crashes on a planet and stays locked up in their ship, after all? Oh that's right, sensible people. Yet, one of the most fundamental role of all of Starfleet is to discover new life, this jungle was chuck full of that. If not for the damn heat, trekking around with Piper would have been a truly exceptional experience. Not to mention I rather enjoyed taking point, yes that's what I was used to, that's what our rank dictated.., however, I found the way Piper let me lead was making me _even more_ taken with her. Especially because I was all too aware that in our current circumstance, rank had nothing to do with the decision on her part.

We weren't moving too fast, and decided to leave the trail of the creek, not much to see while sticking to the water. Before long we've arrived at another dead tree, except this was a regular tree, in size anyway. Piper still gave me a look of suspicion.

\- " These aren't those. " - my excellent way of putting it.  
\- " Are you sure? "  
\- " Quite sure. "  
She stepped next to me, close enough for certain parts of our bodies to be pressed together, glaring at the tricorder. I turned it toward her, so she could see it clearly, holding my breath as the touch intiatied all sorts of pleasurable sensations. These little gestures made this outing truly wonderful.

\- " Hey, look.. " - she grabbed my hand gently, pointing the gadget closer and downward to the bottom of the trunk. Interesting readings coming from there.  
Piper fetched her small axe, carving into the earth at the base of the tree.  
\- " What are you doing? "  
\- " We've established we are hungry, are we not? "  
\- " _Yyeeaahh.._ " - I whispered slowly, narrowly observing her.

After making a somewhat larger exposed area on the trunk, she started bashing it. It sounded hollow. A few strikes later the axe broke through, she kept kicking, exposing a larger hole. Sausage sized worms fell out. They were white, appeared frail and helpless, just as one would expect from worms. My stomach churned, they kept falling from somewhere up the trunk, the entire tree and the surrounding soil must've been infested with them. She grabbed one with two fingers, standing up, presenting it happily.  
\- " Dinner! "  
\- " Are you serious? "  
\- " What?! " - she shrugged - " Pure protein! "  
It looked slimy, shiny, squirming around in her fingers...  
\- " Are you a vegetarian or something? " - she grimaced, tilting her face at me.  
\- " Chakotay tried to convert me, didn't work. That doesn't mean I like worms. "  
\- " We would cook them first. "  
I sighed, holding out one of our sacks.  
\- " They might taste good. " - she tried.  
\- " They might not.. "

Next, we've arrived by a larger tree, this one had wildly different branches. All of them very small, holding fruits as large as a watermelon. Some of them apparently fell prey to bugs and perhaps those howling-jumping monkey things, but most of them were intact. The trunk was covered in thick vines from the ground up, looked perfect for climbing. Piper was preoccupied with the small rodents in the area.

\- " Wish we had a working phaser... Or a crossbow. "  
\- " Anything you wouldn't eat? "  
\- " That's an alien fruit on an alien tree, what exactly makes that better? "  
\- " The fruit on a tree part? "  
She tilted her head - " It's not poisonous is it? "  
\- " Not from where I'm standing.. "

Flipping the machete in her hand, she handed it to me, then approached the tree. My little bombshell Ensign climbing a tree to get me some fruit, how lovely. I folded my arms, settling into the mood.  
\- " Be careful.. "  
She gave me a smug look - " The vines make it too easy. "

Piper took about half a step? Half a climb? Half a... Yes. Anyway, the vines frizzled. It was quite ominous, as if the tree was reacting to her presence. In the next moment, the vines moved here and there, as if unraveling just as she would've used them to climb. Still on the tree, she held her body away from it, apparently at a loss as to what was happening. The tree's intentions became all too obvious in the next few seconds. Before she could've done much about it, the vines turned into things far more alive than vines should ever be, wrapping around and seizing her as if they were snakes.

My mouth gaped as she mumbled something. Next she shook violently, trying to wrestle herself free, but it was no use. I felt my extremities paralyze, my heart sink.  
\- " Kathryn! " - she screamed, the tree, or the ent, as it were, trapping her completely, pulling her close onto the bark..  
The penny dropped, the large, mostly untouched fruits, the web of vines... Camouflage. Nature's craftiest trick. Piper was the fly stuck to the flypaper.

She kept screaming, the rodents bolted from their holes, squealing, running up the vines. That's why they were here, to eat whatever the tree traps. Reading about such an evolutionary setup in a book would be quite fascinating. Looking at it demanded a different adjective.

Infused by a sudden release of adrenaline, I raised the machete, striking the vines, careful not the lodge the blade in her flesh instead. The vines were soft as a rope, covered by bark and solid only in appearance. The tree seemed to react to the strikes, only seizing her harder. For a few moments she growled, tugging and wrestling, then she screamed again, higher pitch.

\- " It's pricking me..! " - she whined, pulled onto the trunk, pretty much unable to move at all - " Do something.. " - her voice was fading.  
\- " Piper! " - I yelled, redoubling my efforts, if that was possible, at cutting the thickest vines.  
With her remaining still I was able to aim more boldly, the tree seemed to compensate, able to detect its own damage. There had to be a limit when it gives up! All the little black rodents climbing and shooting across the vines were little more than an annoyance, but in that moment, they were adding enough to the chaos. I admit I didn't care at all what my machete would hit, long as it wasn't Piper. They kept leaping away and climbing back, they were expecting the prey to be still, obviously.

\- " Piper! " - I screamed again, she seemed to have given up. As I finally cut another thicker branch, her head fell away from the bark, she was barely conscious. Poison. Had to be, made sense too.  
After another few heavy blows the vines subsided on her entire left side, I stepped close, trying to grab her and wrench her free, but it wasn't happening, the tree still had her right arm and leg. Some vines even tried to envelop me, however the attacker's vigor seemed to be giving out. A few rodents tried to climb up my boots and my leg, I screamed, shaking myself, punching and slapping a few of them off both of us. Switching to the right side, only a few more cuts were required for the tree to give up, the remaining veins unraveling, becoming plump, releasing Piper.

I caught her, but we've both fell to the ground. Getting back to my knees I grabbed her near the neck, her jaw, straightening her face. She was barely whimpering, eyes closed, her entire body like a ragdoll. Tricorder. Fetching it from the holster, I activated the emergency mode, the readouts appearing soon after. The substance in her cuts, and now in her bloodstream was identified as laphaline, a potent toxin inhibiting neural response in muscles. This field deployment variant didn't expect an expert holding it all, providing the information in an easy-to-understand manner. The prognosis: Catasthropic muscle failure, apnea and cardiac arrest within minutes. It gave the solution too: Administer 50ccs of vertrazine to carotid artery IMMEDIATELY. The last word flashing rapidly in red.

Thankfully, I was well aware what was in my medical kit with us, and what wasn't. Vertrazine wasn't. We had stuff to treat minor injuries, disinfectant, anti-allergic solutions to prevent dying from sniffing a flower; but antidotes, not so much. Piper's field kit had everything, but that was back at the tent.

The damn small creatures tried to crawl over us, biting, scratching. I shooed them away, growling something I don't remember, slashing the machete in wide arcs.  
\- " Piper, can you stand?! " - I started pulling her up, but there was no response. Her eyes opened, they were unfocused, her body was completely numbed, her fingers didn't grab me, she couldn't keep her head level, the poison made quick work of the purely voluntary muscles. Vigor of Kav'Raahl my arse, why wasn't she simply immune?!

Had to make another few slashes to get the little buggers away from us. I didn't switch off the tricorder when I put it away, the constant frantic beeping was beginning to make me understand that she will die within minutes if I don't do something. Had to get her back to the camp, there was nothing else to do. This was the only time I wished she was some frail, thin as a straw sensory analyst, 60lbs including the biobed...

Roaring, and making the effort to actually hit at least one rodent with a slash I tried to ensure their retreat. It worked reasonably well, I made the conscious decision to stop caring completely about the few that remained nearby, still squealing and making futile attempts at murdering us. Remembering my training from who knows how many years ago, and through some herculean effort I've managed to slump her on my back, and began dashing back the way we came.

We've been very relaxed and comfortable on our way here, spent maybe more than half an hour even, but that was while talking, Piper casually cutting down the plantlife to make way, I didn't dare guess how long it would be to return in a focused and rapid manner. Once again, my mind's ability to record things was a little diminished, I'm not sure how I made it back. Finding my way should've been straightforward, we carved the way out after all.. How I managed to stay upright with her weight on me, almost completely leant forward, traversing the muddy ground, I haven't the faintest. The point was, I didn't make it in time. The tricorder strapped to my thigh started pitching a continous beep a second after I slushed into the creek.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~7~ :: Dinner..._


	7. Dinner

_Author's Note: Rating change will occur before the next chapter is posted. Again, given default settings this will make the story *not appear* in the listings. If you suddenly can't find it, the Mature rating is why.  
_

**Chapter ~7~ :: Dinner**

**.**

The rest of the journey was simple from the waterway. I turned toward the brightness, there it was, _'our tree'_ at the edge. Forcing everything else, the heat, my racing heart, the deathly apprehension to the back of my mind I rushed there, falling to my knees, without a care in the world to my well-being, only making sure to put her down in a manner that wouldn't worsen her already dire condition. Once I released her head, gently, I grabbed the tricorder. She was dead, practically speaking. She wasn't breathing and her heart stopped beating. The device kept a neat timer, it happened 28 seconds ago.

Through another herculean feat, this time of the mind, I forced myself up, rounding the tree and stepping on the wedges planted in its bark, practically throwing myself into the tent, grabbing her kit. During our fleeting time together, I didn't get to know her as the tidiest of people, but the medical kit was exactly as it should be. Nothing was missing from it either, I've read reports about this, the technology and substances contained within could save people hit by disruptors. I was relieved to see that the cardiostimulator was at the designated spot too.

I pushed her top upward, revealing her.. beautiful bra, lacey and embroidered, smartly designed, none of which were helping the situation. Before trying to wrench and snap it off her, I noticed that it clasped in the front. I undid it, slapping the device on the now adequately flattened surface. These too were made for emergencies, hard to miss labels glued on, telling you in clear terms what to do. I pressed the buttons, but nothing happened. Really? Am I unable to press two buttons at the same time? It kept chirping weakly.

Not a penny, but a piece of rock dropped, where the hell was her heart? She isn't human! Tricorder. Pretty sure I was mumbling everything I tried to do inaudibly, making every effort to ignore the gallons of sweat flowing from my brow, forcing the tricorder to stop telling me she was dead, and tell me where her heart was. The holograms shifted, indicating the organ in the dead center, just below the spot where her clavicles joined her sternum. Oh. Didn't even need to strip her. Good to know, worry about that later - I thought, pulling her top back down and moving the stimulator to the spot, it must've had a scanner to further prevent idiots from mucking things up. Pressing the buttons initiated the device this time, fastening and blinking in different lights.

I put the phial of vertrazine into its recepticle, pressing the button for auto-engage. Nothing happened. More red LEDs flashing. The tricorder chirped as well, grabbing it frantically, I looked at the notification: 'Insufficient neural activity, use cortical stimulator _IMMEDIATELY_'. Whoever made this entire crosslinked system could've included a damned hologram to tell me outright, or better yet, do it for me. Foggy remembrances emerged again however, reminding me that the cardiostimulator only works on flatlining patients in badly written holonovels.

Where do I put the cortical stimulator? Still on her head? Must be fun to be a doctor and simply KNOW these things. I put it on her forehead, the Doctor always puts it there. There were enlarged drawings on the back of the medical kit's lid. Showing one of the LEDs on the device, if its flashing yellow, the charge is ready. It was flashing. The other LED: If it's blank, there is no neural activity. It was blank, so I pressed the button. She flinched faintly, across her entire body, after a bone cringing weirdly stuttering noise. The LED lit up.

The cardiostimulator chirped, different lights glaring, but then it went back to the way it was before. I pressed the cortical gadget again, nothing happened. The blue LED was still active, the lid read: If active further shocking is extremely counter-indicated, no manual override possible. It appeared the two devices weren't on the same page.

\- " WELL MAKE UP YOUR MIND! " - I cried out, banging on the rock.  
Manual override. There must be one on the cardiostimulator. Again, the lid came to the rescue, detailing in clear terms what to pull out and shove back. I did so. Half of the vertrazine phial was emptied, her entire torso raising and shaking directly afterward. I grabbed the tricorder, no good news.  
\- " Don't do this to me Piper... "

The different lights did come on at least, the devices apparently agreed we were on the right track. There was another notification though: 'Cordrazine required, switch canisters _IMMEDIATELY'_. I remembered '_IMMEDIATELY_', that the only substance blood-red was the cordrazine, so I found it at record speeds. I switched the phials, the autoengage initiated, beeping with increased frequency, sucking from the canister, shocking her three times in rapid succession at the end. Nothing.

I shifted even closer to her on my knees, wiping the excess moisture from my forehead - " Piper.. please..! " - I caressed her face, forgetting to breath myself...  
The stimulator was still on, starting up another sequence. I kept my hands on her face until the last second. The shocks came again, arching her torso upward, and right after, her mouth and eyes opened, she took an enormous breath. The nervewrecking constant whine of the tricorder stopped, replaced by steady beeps. Not sure what took place in the next few moments, I was beside myself, waves upon waves of calm swept over me, almost nausatingly so.

Piper kept heaving a few heavy breaths, coughing, it took the vertrazine a minute to neutralize the poison in her body.  
\- " You're okay... Welcome back... " - I told her, wiping my face with my basically equally soaked shirt.  
\- " What happened..? "  
\- " What do you remember? "  
\- " I remember the tree... we were attacked.. "  
\- " You were attacked. We have found the biggest flesh eating plant on the planet. "  
\- " What's all this? " - she asked as I removed the cardiostimulator - " What happened.. "  
\- " You were poisoned. Your heart stopped. " - I saw her blink a few times, look around with unfocused eyes, gazing at her hand, slowly turning and moving her fingers.  
\- " We're back at the tree... You carried me here... "  
\- " Was about time I started repaying you.. "  
\- " Thank you... " - she whispered, putting her head back down, sighing with relief, moving her hands to cover her face shortly after.  
\- " Are you alright? How do you feel? "  
\- " Like I've just been poisoned and killed by a tree. " - she added, quiet and raspy.  
My lips curved into a slanted smile, just starting to process all of this. I noted her looking over herself, most likely trying to ascertain what happened to her clothes.  
\- " Oh, I'm sorry about that. " - her gaze fell upon me curiously - " I was.. trying to find your heart. "  
\- " I don't have one... " - the whisper was barely audible, but I got it. Leaning up slowly she pulled on her shirt.  
I tried not to stare too obviously, especially after that remark.  
\- " What? "  
\- " Just a shard of ice.. " - murmuring, she finished fixing her outfit.  
My expression must've been pretty weird and suggestive. She seemed to dismiss my obvious silent query though.  
\- " My head hurts. "  
Waiting a handful of moments, I've decided to move on too.  
\- " I should have something for that... " - shuffling around the medical kit I've found the correct phiel pretty quickly - " This should help.. " - I gave her the shot.  
\- " Aww, my camo pants... " - Piper frowned, as if only now, had the planet finally stopped turning.  
\- " Your heart stopped beating. "  
She looked at me, chuckling - " Yeah well, that's over now, I'm stuck with torn pants. "

* * *

After getting our newest cuts and bruises healed up, we went back to fetch our stuff. Then, against my better judgment, we have continued to forage some more, this time managing to do so without incident. The glowing shrooms were inedible, but we've found plenty of other things which, at least according to the tricorder, would be safe to eat.

We were chatting the entire time. I used to have my doubts about this, but I've found I've enjoyed talking to her. In some ways I've learned more about life on Voyager from this one conversation than from a year's worth of department reports. Apparently many on the crew didn't care for 'our favorite' Marseilles Pool Hall holodeck program at all, making its continued running several nights a week little else than a giant middle finger from the senior staff. I liked that Piper didn't have a problem giving straight answers, clear and concise opinions. Caught the vibe that above all else, things were slow for her on Voyager. She lived in the Manhattan Supercomplex on Earth, whenever she wasn't sealed in a Red Squad dormitory or barracks. That explained a lot. A city girl all her life, with an attitude to match. Exactly the kind of person my parents would have wanted to shield me from all my life. Maybe that's why I've found her so refreshing.

The night came early, days lasted only about 16 hours. Before we've settled in to cook, eat, watch the sunset in our cozy glade - We've really embraced our campsite I must say, surely could have lived without the constant threat of random predators, but this little corner of the jungle served quite well as spa replacement. Anywho, before we've settled for another evening of rudimentary luxuries, we have set up a quicker and very vertical way to access our tent. We had torches and rocks to throw on hand. Other than that, we could only hope for the best.

\- " Oh.. I will let you do the honors. " - I told her, meaning the cooking.  
She tilted her head at me, grinning - " You let culinary sciences escape you, Kathryn? "  
\- " I wouldn't say that, but uhm.. Even with access to a replicator, my specialty remains the peanutbutter-jelly sandwich. "  
Piper snickered heartily - " Well, hard to go wrong with that. Here's what I know about cooking the traditional way: If you heat up a pan, then put stuff in it, it will get fried, and become edible. If you put spices in it as well, it might even get delicious. Everything else, the tricks and the gourmet specialties... pure hogwash. "  
\- " You're merely saying that to reduce my expectations, making it easier for you to dazzle me. "

I bit my tongue after that. Especially thanks to the cheeky look she gave me. _'Do you think I want to dazzle you?' 'I really don't need to cook anything to dazzle you!' 'Burning everything would still dazzle you...'_ ...All of those were included in it.  
\- " Without trying to shatter the mystique, I'm going to use... " - she read the labels of the packages in the standard cooking accessories pack she brought - " Rapeseed oil.., garlic, and uhm... an 'exotic selection of Federation peppers'. And then.. whatever happens, happens. "  
\- " Can't wait. "  
\- " You didn't seem so enthusiastic about these earlier. "  
\- " Worms, snails and overgrown soft centipedes... " - I looked at the prepared raw material, immediately forcing myself to forget about them - " I guess I'm just really hungry by now. "

We were by the meadow. She was standing in the water, using the shore as a counter with the camping stove on it. This stuff was included with the tent. Diligent Starfleet engineers thought about every contingency. I was sitting nearby, my feet in the water. Found some rather skimpy excercise clothes in the stuff I brought. They had enough elastic lycra or whatever in them for me to repurpose them as swimwear. Still felt a little shy about being in front of her in little more than bra and panties, but I noticed her stealing a few glances. Furthermore, on a few occasions she didn't even attempt to cover it up in the slightest. It was quite an.. invigorating feeling. In a perhaps uncharacteristic vein however, I was completely befuddled how to handle it. My mind was exceedingly successful at declaring _'future me will handle it'_, leaving me to simply enjoy her cute charms. She was in her white bikini of course... At the risk of being overly dramatic, she was so hot, the water was continually shizzling near her.

We could enjoy the sunset while the local wildlife turned into a more palatable form in the frying pan. I've never been all that phased when trying alien cuisine, but I must admit, not seeing the raw materials before the cooking prodedure may have helped out a great deal. Anyway, my stomach was rumbling, I would have eaten anything.

Dinner went quietly as a result, we were too busy stuffing our faces to continue the small talk. The worms ended up being the best in my honest opinion. The centipedes had a texture not unlike trying to eat sawdust. I have never eaten sawdust, but that seemed an adequate comparison. The snails were hard to chew, like cuttlefish, rubbery but otherwise not bad. Most of the _'not bad'_ came from the spices, I've found all three of them to be rather tasteless on their own.

Piper cleaned her plate, I left my second centipede.  
\- " Do you want mine? "  
\- " Uhh... No. In retrospect, those were a less than stellar idea. "  
We grinned at each other, putting the plates down, fetching the fruits we've got.  
\- " So, did I manage to dazzle you? " - she leant on the shore, tilting her head for that... I was sufficently dazzled, prompting me to swallow hard.  
\- " Yes, it was.. lovely. Thank you. "  
\- " You're welcome. "

Piper pinched a single one of the small red things I gathered. I did so too, but as she chewed on it, her face shifted into one of unimaginable terror, she dashed and splashed a few meters over to the outer edge, gobbing it down into chasm, moaning in disgust.  
\- " You said you've tasted these. "  
\- " Yeah... " - I was tasting it right then as well - " A little sour but,.. "  
\- " A little sour? Ugh... " - she leant into the water to clean her mouth, I've found it quite comical.  
\- " You don't like sour? "  
\- " _No, I don't like sour_. I like sweet. Like normal people. " - she reached for the other type we've got, we have only found two edible fruits, everything else made the tricorder beep warnings, or was simply too stiff to eat. That other one had a crispy outer layer, revealing a creamy inside, even the seeds were soft, like jellies suspended in honey.  
\- " I find those a little too sweet, actually. "  
\- " Too sweet is an oxymoron. " - she grabbed a handful of them, sitting up right next to me onto the shore.  
I felt as if the temperature would have increased tenfold. She put a hand somewhere behind me, leaning on it, gazing up at the beautifully lit trees.  
\- " Look at this place... Who needs technology, architecture, a spa.. when you can find this in the middle of nowhere? "  
\- " Mhmm... Technology and civilization could have saved us a lot of grief tho'... "  
\- " I'm the one who _died_, what are you moaning about? " - she chuckled.  
\- " Exactly, you've left me to take care of everything... "  
\- " You were frightened... " - she bore into my soul with those huge eyes, glowing softly in the orange light.  
\- " Of course I was frightened.. The thought of loosing you was... " - I couldn't finish the sentence, didn't think there was a need to either.

Piper smiled, then rolled her full, luscious, glistening lip between her teeth.  
\- " I've never thanked you properly... " - she husked, while knocking the glowing shroom from my lap, getting back into the water and finding a way for her hips between my knees. I put that in one sentence because that's how fast she was right there in front of me, the brilliantly designed bikini top enunciating her delicate curves, those finely shaped muscles creating the most alluring silhouette in the dimmed ambience.  
A wave of warmth rushed over me, with little control over my breath I managed: - " You needn't thank me. " - her hair was loosely spun up into a random bun, so as to avoid getting it wet, locks streaking out in all directions, several in her face, she looked so young, so cute...  
Smiling with her mouth slightly open, the tip of her tongue elfishly seducing me as she hovered mere inches from me - " This is for me then... "  
I kept reclining, but she kept following, until I was out of resolve for further retreat. Her lips touched mine, brushing gently, as she breathed the softest kiss.  
~Red alert, shields!~ Suddenly my heart felt hell bent on breaking out of my chest - " Piper, I'm not... "  
\- " Not what Kathryn.., sure? " - she put her index finger over my lips, glaring in my eyes again - " I see the way you look at me, hear the way your voice frets... " - I glanced away, but she leant in tandem, not allowing any respite - " I'm sure_ for you._ "

With her hands brushing my thighs, she kissed me again. I didn't respond much. This was about so much more than getting kissed by her. I guess it was all about that but, I meant the war inside my head. It wasn't about her gender, or if this was maybe a bit too fast. It was about the boundary that shouldn't be crossed. Piper pulled away a quarter of an inch, her hot breath falling upon the void where her soft lips were a moment ago. I already missed the contact, ached for it, however, suddenly, something clicked in my head, perhaps the command mask locking into place.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~8~ :: Abandoned..._


	8. Abandoned

_**Warning**: As I'm sure you've gathered while getting this far, due to the POV/memoir nature of the story, it is rather casual and descriptive. As a result, this chapter is quite explicit. And by that I mean EXPLICIT. If you like the story but rather not suffer through this, then skip to the next one, I won't judge._

**Chapter ~8~ :: Evening**

**.**

\- " We can't do this... " - I breathed weakly, leaning away an inch or two.  
\- " You don't want to..? "  
Oh but I did, _sooo fucking much..._ \- " We shouldn't... "  
\- " Why? " - she leant so close again, not allowing me any time to gather my thoughts.  
\- " Because I'm your Captain! " - I pushed her away, the act of grabbing her shoulders making me feel a lot less determined about it all.  
\- " I don't see any pips on your collar... " - she looked down, staring at me, her hands on my thighs, pressing them together, my knees hugging 'round her hips as a result.  
\- " We will be rescued, and this will all be over. "  
\- " Exactly. "  
I hated that retort. I wanted to hate it. What sort of woman does she take me for? I didn't reply, seconds just kept passing.  
\- " When was the last time you had someone this close to you? "  
\- " I hardly think that's any of your business. "  
We've spent a short while playing cat and mouse with our lips, I kept trying to lean away, spin my head in circles. My mouth making the circles, not my neck. Her cheeks kept brushing into mine, this only made everything hotter. Finally she gave up, staying still, our cheeks together, I actually eased into the touch too.  
\- " There's no actual rule against this. " - she husked, close to my ear.  
\- " It's a question of principle. " - my answer was automatic.  
\- " You know... " - she exhaled, pulling away just enough so we could look in one another's eyes - " You'll regret the things you didn't do a lot more than the things you did. "  
\- " Do you believe that? "  
\- " With every fiber of my being. "

Of course she does. Asking stupid questions seemed my forte in situations where I wished I could just fade into the Interphase.I leant closer, everything was better than looking into those huge, lovely eyes of hers.  
\- " Nobody needs to know... " - she continued.  
\- " I will know. "  
\- " That's kinda the point though, ain't it? " - snickering, she pulled away an inch - " Remembering every detail of the underpants Charleston with someone like me? "  
_The what?_ That managed to chuckle me up even in my current state, prompting me to open my eyes, see her beautiful face, the compelling void of her eyes, her smile... _'Someone like me', pfft.._, she was cocky. Had every reason to be though...  
\- " You had to revive me today, what if we both die tomorrow? "  
\- " Yes, you shouldn't exert yourself... "  
\- " Yeyeye, answer the question. "  
I sighed instead of doing so.  
\- " I'm just trying to make a rational argument. "  
\- " That's an irrational argument. "  
\- " Fine, then I'll be honest. I think you're hot. I know you think I'm hot. I also know this ain't a struggle with latent homosexuality, you know I'm not a girl. "  
_~ I don't know what the hell you are. Crazy, though, would probably be justified ~_ So she did notice. I was way too late to hide my instinctual response, my face was burning. Other parts of my body were.. shall we say coming online too. Especially as she caressed me gingerly, my thighs, up the side of my abdomen.., I couldn't even look at her.  
\- " Has it been long enough for you to forget you're a beautiful and sexy woman? " - her eyebrows quirked as I glanced that way - " I can make you feel like one again. "

\- " Piper.. "  
\- " Wait, I take that back. I'm not doing you a favor. The pleasure will be all mine. " - she pulled me closer to the edge, right to it actually, along the slippery smooths rock.  
\- " Piper.. " - suddenly being so close to her swept another wave of apprehension over me. Yet the fact that she was strong and self-assured enough to just be able to pull me in had me entranced.  
\- " Shh.. " - shushing me, she started planting kisses along the side of my neck.  
The sensations made me gasp, I couldn't believe she was so bold, so sure of herself. This would have been the moment to push her away, followed by a slap. Yet I couldn't do it. There was this spasming shiver going through my arm, but I didn't want to move it. I didn't want her to stop.  
\- " Piper... " - I breathed for the six hundredth time... '_Piper_', what a stupid name for a girl. It's cute until they grow up. Then it becomes super silly, so silly that _I LOVED THAT TOO_. Everything about her, I've found her absolutely irresistible. Not knowing her that well didn't matter, I had an idea about her character from the past 5 years. She was so good at being bad.., I've always admired her integrity when it came to her friends, their unit, and some hidden part of me found it quite titillating how successful she always seemed to be chasing skirts, no matter what manner of planet, moon or spacestation we were anchored at. Then there was the pull of the unknown as well, she was Naraahl.. that big unknown in her pants.., her nether parts were still underwater, I couldn't see or feel anything yet, but I was obsessed, aching to find out exactly what she meant by not being a girl...

She carded into my hair, grabbing my attention, the softness of the touch.., I've managed to swallow my moan in the last moment before giving myself completely away.  
\- " Kathryn... "  
My eyes were closed, my muscles tightened everywhere in my body, I was holding onto the rock for dear life. I thought about the last time someone spoke to me like this. I didn't remember it. The planning part of my brain shut off. As my head tilted, easing into her wet touch, her fingers cradling my face. I didn't have a plan. I didn't know how far would this go, and what would happen then. I just felt that if I didn't let this happen, I would regret it all the way to the Alpha Quadrant.

Lifting my lids the only sight were the void of her dark globes directly in front of me.. Beckoning me.. An incident from the past year flashed inside my mind, Piper and another crew member standing in front of me in my ready room. They were caught fraternizing in a maintenance junction, delaying one of Seven's experiments. Piper was smirking the whole time, while Ensign Delaney looked about to faint. It's not important what I told them, the point is I've decided to leave it all out of the logs. Why? Captain Janeway would never admit it, but Kathryn Janeway knew well, I was simply jealous. Not of either of those girls, simply the fraternizing. Well I didn't need to be jealous anymore.

She pressed our lips together again, this time I responded. Invigorated, she turned a bit more ravenous, her tongue darting forward, the touch felt so electric, I could barely contain myself. Pausing only enough to snicker, as if telling me _'ha-ha, I told you so'_, she kissed me again, and I let her do it properly. She was still so gentle, the sweet taste of that fruit lingered on her lips. I didn't have time to rethink this, every little nib, little lick washed me away again and again. Slowly her tongue ventured deeper, she grabbed me tighter, she made me feel so wanted. The jungle, all of the outside world started to disappear for me, Piper occupying all of my perceptions instead. We didn't stop kissing until my lungs burned for air, the breath reigniting my passion, as if it were fire.

\- " Touch me.. " - she breathed, neediness thinning her voice.  
Oh yes, I had arms and hands. Shaking a little as I moved them, I was so out of practice. Not to mention on some level I guess I was still unable to accept someone like her would be interested in me. She was young.., perfect. I was.. something else.

\- " You're so cute when you're shy... " - she was right, while I barely touched her she caressed me everywhere, my shoulders, running her fingers down from my clavicles, brushing across everything in the way... - " Fuck.., you're so hot, fit.., compact... " - her eyes slowly made it back up, then her lips were back on mine.  
Hugging me tight, she eventually pulled me past the edge of the rock. I slid down into the water, our bodies pressed togehter I could feel the physical evidence of her arousal. That bulge brushing me made my stomach flutter, it was both arousing, inciting strange sensations in my nether regions, and freaking me out. I gasped inadvertently, breaking our kiss. To say it was unexpected would be quite dumb, considering the situation, however... uhm, well I gasped anyway. Piper only snickered in response, suddenly towering over me, our position no longer cancelling out the difference in height.

\- " I want you so bad... " - she husked into my ear, proceeding to fully utilize the greater freedom being submerged in water provided.  
She was groping me everywhere, wrapping our bodies together so tightly, I was getting a little overwhelmed. Maybe she was used to a faster pace with younger girls, but I couldn't quite put myself past the openness of our venue. Yes, I was beside myself from all her kisses, her body flush against mine, but I really wanted to go up to the tent. She was so good at what she was doing, got my top off without me noticing it practically. Suddenly she was squeezing my boobs, moaning softly, grinding her hardness against me. I was getting a little apprehensive, things were heating up, I wanted it too, wanted more too, but I feared I would end up being.. inadequate. Piper wasn't used to old hags like me. And having enough experience about life to know that such dumb thoughts are precisely what I should never be thinking didn't change that; not at the time anyway.

\- " Piper.. " - I whispered, she ignored me, or rather didn't register that as me wanting to say something.  
Her feet must've reached the bottom, she lifted me so easily, at least enough for my tits to emerge, sucking on my nips. This girl.. my head bopped back, a lewd moan escaping my mouth.  
\- " Piper... " - I tried again, lifting my head back, caressing her face to get her attention - " Let's go up.. "  
She moaned, her hand dove down my back into my bottoms, kissing me deeply again.  
\- " Let's go up to the tent.. " - I repeated.  
\- " Why? " - she chuckled, biting her lip. I had plenty of things to be aroused about, but that expression still made me loose it - " There ain't a tub like this even in a spa... "  
Everytime she stopped talking she resumed smooching my body. I haven't been licked this much even by my dog. It was weird, but I liked it all the same. Her tongue was ticklish, the soft nibs she made with her teeth made my body twitch with pleasure.  
\- " I like tight spots.. just me and you... " - maybe my subconscious just wanted me to hide, after the unwritten rules were so ruthlessly thrown out.  
\- " Oh yeah..? "  
\- " Mhmm.. "

We started to float toward the edge, the groping, the grinding, the kissing never stopping. This unbridled passion had me completely blown away. I couldn't remember a moment in time I've felt so desired. This tight, strong body wrapping me around her, eating me up with such voracity... That whole Captain &amp; Ensign thing vanished from my mind, I've felt so ready, so turned on, so hungry for more. I still had a mission to get to that tent... She slapped my ass as I climbed out, I purred, loving the fact we were apart for maybe a single second before she grabbed me again. My mind may have been filled with a wide spectrum of emotions, but suddenly above all else, I was horny. I wanted her to keep doing what she was doing so bad...

I leaned down for the sonic atomizer, our towel. Set to an arc, it evaporated moisture in a wide stripe, I started using it on my chest, as she was grabbing me from behind. I heard her moan, the tone making me think of a frown.  
\- " I hope you do like being wet tho... "  
\- " Yeah... " - I husked, of course I did, but turning the tent into a wet mess with riverwater wasn't my fantasy.

I could constantly feel her hardness against me... she was so damn horny for me... that turned me on the most. Suddenly, she put her hands into my bottoms on both sides, pushing them down in one swift movement. Down directly to my feet, leaving me no time to... to do anything. The next moment she bit into my buttcheek. I yelped, turning into snickering as I spun around. I couldn't quite believe her.. freedom of expression? Her audacity started to rub off on me... She was laughing too, taking off her top, then promptly getting rid of her boyshorts. She straightened back up, her cock wiggling left and right.

My laughter ceased, I gawked with my mouth open. I immediately noticed she had no balls, nothing of the sort down there, just a thick, big cock arching upward. Not an expert on the matter, but I was fairly certain that meant she was rock hard. For me. _I did that to her._ My mouth went dry, once again I was beside myself, freaked out and aroused at the same time. Her naked glory was pure perfection, her wet, glistening body felt as if it would've been drawn, just for me. The tip of her dick hovered in front of her bellybutton, as she grabbed and started stroking herself... My heart was pounding so hard I thought my entire torso was rocking back and forth.

As she stepped closer I could finally snap my eyes away, not missing that smug grin on her face. I was mostly done with drying my front side.., at least I thought so, my mind's ability to function properly had been severly diminished. She grabbed the gadget from me and ran it over herself. She kept some distance, arching left and right, constantly eating me up with her eyes as she kept basically showing off. I was shy as a nun compared to her, but then again, I didn't have a body like that. My blood was gathering where it scarcely used to. She was so young.., I couldn't quite believe this was happening to me, that this girl.. guy.. whatever Naraahl was so into me. The situation too, I was shyly covering myself, somewhat anyway, I consciously tried not to do it properly, not wanting to appear complete fool.

Once she was done with her front, she hugged me again, turning the gadget to my back. Her hardness was sandwiched between us, this was so erotic I could barely contain myself. I'm certain I'm not giving away a big secret when I admit I've never went through something like this during my previous escapades. And my previous escapades were also so long ago I didn't want to even remember the stardate. Let's just say Piper was a few orders of magnitude above my husband-to-be, in every conceivable sense.

We climbed up to the tent, I guess I was being shy the whole way, she was giggling a lot. I have no idea how she got up there with her... _with her handicap_. I was the one who climbed in there like a shaking virgin, she could grab the branch, pull herself up and slide in like a pro. I still found our nakedness hilarious, thank goodness I've done my share of landscaping before this excursion. Not because I was expecting anything like this of course, just... it's what you do. There was no hair on her body, apart from her beautfiul blonde locks. She had these scores of spots, laid out symmetrically, I've found them truly gorgeous, identical sharp little spots. Some on her side, on her hips, around her... where she should've had some hair perhaps...

Anyway, as soon as we were both in the cool tent, she wasted no time to seize me again, push me to my back and eat me up. I've become further energized and inspired by her apparent complete lack of restraint. Going by the assumption that if she likes licking she must like being licked too.., she tasted nice. Mostly just like the water '_downstairs_'. Her skin had a slightly different texture than humans, void of any imperfections, only her spots created little bumps on it. She slowly started moving south, after a while I couldn't reach to kiss her myself, my hand was in her hair, I arched my back, giving myself over to the feeling. And what feelings they were... this was better than any spa vacation.

Sometime during this I've finally let another restraint go, becoming more vocal. Piper was whispering sweet nothings from time to time, moaning too, enjoying my body. How could I stay silent then?  
She played with my nipples, gentle at first, pinching with her teeth, sucking and making loud popping- smacking sounds as she pulled on them. The way she looked up to my eyes while squeezing my tits, quietly giggling with her tongue hanging out was.. heavenly. Continuing further down, I was assaulted by another few waves of shy apprehension. I kept my knees closely shut, enjoying as she tickled my hips, leaving a wet trail with her mouth around my belly button, eventually reaching my little patch of fur. She kissed around it, dove into it and pulled my hairs with her teeth. It was tingling, weird, and so fucking inappropiate I was going wild.

Meanwhile her hands reached my knees, gently pushing them apart. I provided no resistance.., it would have been futile, as it were. All the fondling and kissing got me so ready, I could feel my own wetness. I glanced shyly away, although managed to check back often, her expressions and her eyes were too good to miss out on. Even after all the foreplay we went through already she was once again taking her time, smooching along my thighs, avoiding the most sensitive zone, as if she were under orders to do so. My moans were getting louder, I wiggled my crotch, I was going crazy. My earlier sudden concerns gone, I really wanted her there, but she kept hovering, her hot breath teasing me with such delicious cruelty.

I didn't want to break the 'silence', but she made me.  
\- " Piper... " - my hand was still in her hair, pulling gently, but she wouldn't budge - " Piperr.. "  
\- " What? " - she had the nerve to ask, between a lick to the right and to left of my lips.  
\- " Please... "  
She snickered, a smug grin on her face. Moving her hands down there, she planted her fingers still outside the dangerzone, pulling me apart, gazing at my wetness.  
\- " So gorgeous! " - I could feel those words, this was actually painful now.  
I growled aloud - " Pipeerrr..! "

Without anything further, she stuck her tongue out and dove into me, lapping. I might have died for a second, I let her go, I let the world go, it felt so amazing I wanted to scream, but remained silent as this were only a dream. She was still there when I returned, those glinting eyes glaring at me from between my legs may have just been the most beautiful thing I have seen in the Delta Quadrant. After she was done licking and scouting her way through my pussy, and she took her sweet time, Piper's expression changed slightly, gaining a sense of focus.

Covering my mound with her hand, she put two utterly wet fingers on either sides of my clit, massaging me through the folds of skin. No one has ever touched me this way, if I wanted to feel this I had to do it myself. A heartbeat later the tip of her tongue darted to the spot just below my engorging center, twitching around, writing alien script... I might have died again for a moment. This bitch knew exactly what she was doing. With my ability to breath momentarily lost, I propped onto my elbows, I had to get a better view of this.

She appeared so diligent, focused on her task, and she was so fucking good at it too. The latest waves of pleasure made me much more vocal, I could no longer stop myself. I forgot about laying on my elbows too, whopping back down onto the bed, using my hands to card into her hair instead. She may have been trying different things, but I think my response was the same to all of them, more moaning and squeezing.

Eventually she settled into a rythm, sucking on my clit. Not poking and prodding it like my ex-fiancé, but sucking with her super wet, soft lips and featherly strokes of her tongue. For a moment I thought we were falling, my hand slapping the fabric of the tent, I scratched and squeezed. Her ministrations felt so amazing, I felt my orgasm build up steadily. I squirmed, moaned, wriggled my hips, but she kept on there through it all, never stopping. My insides clenched repeatedly I was getting so close so quickly...

I let out my highest pitched whimpers, carding into her hair again, squeezing with my thighs. I don't know where my other hand was, but she's found it with hers, intertwining our fingers. That gesture was too much, my head bopped up to look at her, she was glaring at me, those glinting dark globes beckoning, compelling me, along with her hands gripping tighter... I could feel a potentially paradigm-shifting release building up to dangerous heights, my muscles spasming, thighs twitching...

Moaning like a revving engine before I fell completely silent, she's become even more intense... I was dying.., continually, retaining just enough life so I could die some more. She didn't stop.. she didn't fucking stop, my legs were twitching, my entire torso frozen in place, I felt my pussy wanting to explode, or it was exploding, I don't know... when I could finally take a huge breath, I bored my hand between her and my burning, clenching, pulsating center. I heard her chuckle I think, then my loud and heavy moans drowned out everything else. Dissociating with reality for a short while, waves and waves of soothing calm washed over my entire body, down to my toes and back again. The numbing tranquility taking over me is quite simply the best feeling in the world.

As I slowly regained my perceptions, I felt her smooching me along my thigh, her hands caressing my side, my abdomen... Drunk with this pleasure, I uttered something along the lines of " C'mere.. ", inviting her, I wanted to feel her body on mine. Didn't have to ask twice, she crawled over me, planting kisses all the way through, her mouth eventually landing on mine for a moment, continuing to just below my ears.  
\- " You're so fucking hot right now... " - she husked, earning a deep purr from me.

I hugged her tightly, not able to do much else. I felt completely spent, it was cool in the tent but I was writhing and glistening... However, her erection was once again pressed against me. She started grinding, hungry for me I'm sure, once again making me apprehensive. It was obvious what she would want now, and the thought made me wish to just hide away. I wanted to return the favor, make her feel good of course, but I didn't want her to fuck me. I felt so content with what has already transpired, all the willingness to switch gears and carry it further vanished. Within moments an ironclad conviction formed in my mind, this encounter should be restricted to oral pleasures. _How would I break this to her_, I wondered. The prospects made me most anxious, how would she react? How would I react? I would be super understanding and patient of course. But I was woman.., she... _she was something else._

I was shivering, these thoughts clogging my brain. After a bit more of passionate kissing and cuddling from her part, Piper raised up, straddling me. The tent was not tall enough for her to fit, she remained slightly leaned down, her head a little pushed into the fabric. She spit in her palm, smearing it on her cock. It was so big, that was actually scaring me as well. She was fit and toned, but slender and ripped, not buff and butch at all. Maybe it would've been less imposing on a man who would barely fit in this tent in the first place. It was still incredibly hot and sexy as she towered over me, I wanted to do naughty things to it, to her, except my earlier conviction wouldn't change.

I licked my fingers too, wrapping them around the base of her dick. It felt so warm and rigid... this was another point of no return, a throbbing void in my chest reminding that my actual level of confidence was lower than in the far-fetched rapid fantasies flooding my mind. I don't intend to give an encyclopedic description, but her stiffy appeared a robust construction, strong enough to carry me around on it, the general vibe pretty much identical to what one would expect. Her nipples, and the tip were both very light, pinkish, lighter than the skin around them. I barely got in a few strokes before she started moving further down, aiming that thing toward me. I wasn't looking forward to the next few moments, this was going to be weiiird... _Isn't that what sex is always like, though? Weird and hot, but kinda weird, hot too, but still weird?_ Anyway.., I crossed my legs, covering my pussy with a hand, trying to be suggestive.

She let go of her cock, letting it wiggle skyward again, trying to push my legs apart.., but they wouldn't submit. Glancing at me, she grinned, her tongue sticking out. Judging by her expression, she must've thought I was being playful. I squirmed a little as she tried again, earning a more befuddled response.  
\- " Don't be afraid Kathryn.. " - she cooed, trying to get my hand away.  
\- " Piper please... " - I whined, making her expression shift into a frown.  
Leaning down to me again, she kissed me gingerly - " What's wrong, bunny? "  
She was so sweet, I hated disappointing her... - " I'm just not ready... "  
Chuckling, she smooched me some more - " Wanna cum again? "  
\- " Nn.. I mean, tonight. "

Suddenly there was a tangible disruption in the flow of things.  
\- " Why? "  
I had no answer that would've made sense in this particular moment.., _so I grabbed her dick!_  
\- " Please... " - I put my other hand on her cheek, kissing her as deep and confident as I could, nibbing at her lip. I didn't want to be the beggar though, I wanted to convince her. Besides, stroking her erection was my pleasure too.

I felt her hesitating, so I pressed on, my hand was in the perfect position to push her to my side. She let herself go, landing next to me.., finally _my turn_ to make her feel good. Getting on my knees, I leaned over her, keeping a firm grip on her member, I kissed into her neck. In the next moment I had to face the realization that I had no idea what the hell was I doing. She was so assured, ravenous in her approach, I felt like that too, except had a difficult time making it a reality. I was so shy, out of practice... Couldn't bare the thought of her getting bored of me, so driven by impulse I've decided to focus my efforts on her dick.

I grabbed it with both hands, licking along the shaft.. I felt a suffocating void course through my body, my face flushing with heat, starting to perspire even more. Her cock felt scorching hot, I could sense her pulse throbbing inside. I was so nervous, yet so engaged at the same time... I licked her a few more times, taking in her taste properly for the first time. This was so fucking inappropiate again, something inside me revelled in that.. Lingering at the tip, my tongue reaching her flesh was so electric, I thought I sensed a ripple skitter across both of us, prompting me to finally dare to look toward her face. She was propped onto an elbow, biting her lip in the most insufferably erotic manner..

\- " Ooo-kay.. " - she tuned with a cheeky grin, carding into my hair.  
I still didn't know what I was doing. She gave me such an earthshattering experience, hated the thought of managing only a lacklusting performance on my part.  
\- " Tell me what you like... " - that's cheating, but stacking the deck is the captain's perogative. My voice waivered, wondered if she could tell how much of a slave of hers I've decided to become, without really being aware what would that entail.

Not wasting a moment, she wrapped her hand around one of mine, squeezing and tugging on her cock. Slowly, we pulled down the foreskin, exposing a fat mushroom head, shaped a little differently than I was used t... than what I've seen before. So pink, so cute, yet so mighty.., I loved it. Once done being mesmerized, I looked to her again, as she began licking her lips in a way that left no avenue for misinterpretation.

I wet my lips a little more, wrapping them around her cock. She was so big, I had to open wide, really wanted to be gentle. I felt a ripple go through her again, she probably had no idea about what was going through me. Nothing would be the same after this, ever. There was a careful push on my head, so I tried to get as much of her as I could, I didn't get very far at all before retreating.  
\- " Don't do that... " - she said, making me cringe.  
\- " What? "  
\- " Swallow.. " - Piper snickered - " Least not right now, huh? " - she started moving around so I was prompted to lean up.

Crinkling both of our pillows into the corner, she lay onto them, getting me between her legs, I followed her lead like a puppy. I was on my knees, my ass towards the sky, my head pushed down beyond her towering erection. She had this firm grip on the back of my head, placing me in the perfect licking position. So controlling and demanding, I loved every moment of this, it's been forever since I have felt anything of the sort, far out of my comfort zone, dominated. Half expected her to slow down a little as we got up in the tent, but she didn't, not by a long shot... which I've found extremely enticing.

As she let her dick go it slammed on her tummy. _Oops_. She gave me a funny look, so I quickly grabbed it again. She took my other hand though, my palm, placing my fingers in her mouth. Sucking on them, she actually pushed them into her throat, making me a little befuddled... Soon after as she opened her mouth, my fingers pulled sticky streams of saliva with them. As she circled with her tongue to make more of it stick, the penny dropped, I finally started working for the same goal.

We spun it on the tip of her cock, then used my fingers to spread it, wrap my hand around it... I didn't need more direction, I locked my fist around it tightly, jerking and massaging. Her twitches of pleasure sent waves of electricity through me, I had two hands on her, licking between them with my head sideways, watching as her eyes narrowed, her abs rolled, those perfect muscles spasming... Then she glanced back in my eyes, biting her lip, the girliest moan escaping her lips. I had her, this was perfect.

I kept jerking and licking as she slowly pulled my head up to the tip, grabbing me with both of her hands.. Both of mine on her shaft now, I braced myself. I couldn't see her face anymore, but I felt the attention, especially as she pushed me down. I took all I could, listening to her breathing, her little moans... The tastes, the scents were so naugthy, her cock pressing into my throat. Wanting to anyway, it felt way too big. I had the gagging under control, for a while anyway, the rhytmic tugging eventually became too much. She let me lift up...  
\- " Spit, spit.., spit... " - she whispered, just as I was about to screw up again.  
I held my mouth open, the juice flowing onto her hot cock... I felt so fucking filthy, heaving.  
\- " Mhhm.., yeah bunny.. " - she cooed in a high pitch, turning my head so we could glance at each other.  
A similar phrase appeared in my mind too, I was way into this. Felt like I was tapped into her central nervous system, controlling all her pleasures via my fingertips. Her cock was rock hard, throbbing in my hands _for me_. I spread the sticky strands on it, redoubling my jerking efforts.  
\- " Stick your tongue out.. " - she commanded, then bopped my head back on her cock.. - " Keep it out, keep it out... " - I tried to do what she said... - " Keep your hands moving..! " - flying a shuttle might have been easier.

Moving, she shoved herself more and more into my mouth, the noises I was making... a voice in my head tried hard to convince me this was unbecoming, but I didn't listen. Eventually she pushed me past my threshold, I pulled up, gagging. Such a good student though, I remembered, leaving my tongue out, letting more saliva ooze onto her cock.., then seized the tip, squeezing and jerking with my hand. She twitched, moaning together with me. Immediately she leaned forward, pulling me into a kiss. Grinning, she had this look of intense pleasure.  
\- " You're a natural... " - she chuckled, then kissed me again with such passion.. I got the vibe she was really, _really_ pleased with my perfomance, which in turn made me even more ravenous. I was so happy, so turned on from knowing Piper was way into what I was doing.

I don't know how long we kept doing variations on this, I was starting to be out of breath, my nose got snotty, she was becoming more and more vocal, pulling her legs up a little, moving her hips more... One time, suddenly she pulled my head off on her own volition, grabbing the tip of her cock and pushing down on my hands, prompting me to stop. Her entire body throbbed once, uttering the sluttiest moan, squirting a little clear liquid, then more flowed out, onto her hand. She took it away, licking the stuff up. Waves of pleasure echoed across my body too, that was so damn hot... I pounced on her cock too, sucking up the rest of it. She tasted.., weird, definitely unique for my palette. I felt her dick go just a tad softer, resuming my manual labor, sucking even harder.

I heard her hiss, squirming a little..  
\- " Fuckyeah, bunny..! "  
_~ Bunny? Okay babe, I'm your bunny...~ _Was this how she felt sucking on my clit, I wondered. I loved this, my firm grip on her most sensitive part, directly controlling her pleasures by tugging on that massive cock... I went on, eventually turning her entire meat into one sloppy mess... When I felt her grip ease a little, I brought my head away, moving my hand to the tip instead, jerking her tightly, watching her response, reveling in the sight. She was hard as diamond again, most assuredly getting closer and closer to her limit.

She started moaning words I didn't understand, eventually turning into:  
\- " You're gonna make me cu-umh.. " - she pulled my head closer - " Lick, lick lick... "  
I darted my tongue at the edge of her tip facing me, again and again, licking. That's what she wanted, I knew it.. I could feel a few little buds there, I don't know what they were but they seemed to have a power over her I thoroughly enjoyed exploiting. She grabbed my wrists instead, dictating an ever faster pace. Smaller, very fast movements at first, then gradually slower; longer, her breaths slowing as well, but her muscles were constantly tightened, her eyes turning upward repeatedly... I could barely contain myself as well, even without direct stimulus I was going crazy too, felt my pussy throbbing together with her.

\- " Don't stop... don't stop.. " - she uttered, and a moment later, her breathing stopped...  
Then suddenly, this incredible jolt coursed through her, her cock erupting with such force that I could hear the impact on the tent's fabric. Her entire body shook as she kept squirting again and again, her hands grabbing mine, tugging on her throbbing hardness even faster. Aimed more and more towards her, the ropes covered her, one landing on her flinching, slightly turned face. I was gawking with my mouth open, ripples of pleasure coursing through me too, my breathing paused... It was as though I could see her every muscle tighten, her abs, her shoulders, as she covered herself in her creamy, white cum. Finally she took a huge breath, her hands slowing, squeezing out the last drops of her load. Moaning a few times, then snickering, I felt her cock soften in my hands a little.. she was so fucking hot covered in her own milk, giggling and heaving. I couldn't resist taking the tip in my mouth, sucking, cleaning off what was still oozing out, she hissed, her entire body spasming, she must've been super sensitive still, but I kept a torturing her, sucking that sweet cum out of her...

When she let her cock go, she reached for her face, using her finger to smear some to her mouth, licking it off with obvious enjoyment, gazing at me from the corner of her eye. I'm not sure why, but that... that had got to be the hottest thing I have _ever_ seen... I moaned aloud, aching to hug that perfect body, kiss that giggling face for the rest of eternity. Crawling over, I lowered my body onto hers, the sticky, hot mess inbetween didn't phase me at all. I may have cringed at first, but Piper obviously loved different bodily fluids all over both of us, so I made the conscious decision to enjoy it too, which in my orgasmic state of mind wasn't hard at all.

I licked the remaining cum off her face in one swift movement, proceeding to kiss her. The ravenous, deep make-out session lasted for several blissful minutes, both of us soothing, turning slower and gentler in the process. I felt so happy that I made her happy.. I felt quite certain she was satisfied, spreading a warm feeling inside me.  
Eventually I rolled off her, fetching the sonic atomizer which I brought up with me, ending up in a corner somewhere. I started using it on her, as she reached out to gingerly caress my cheek, slowly blinking.., smiling. She didn't say anything, barely blinking, but I had no need for words. The fact that the gadget wouldn't so much get rid of, but cover the tent in an unseen layer of Piper DNA wasn't lost on me. Looking at her three lacerations again reminded me about all the stuff we've been through... for goodness' sake, she has died today! Perhaps that was the reason she didn't do much else, by the time I was finished with a few passes of sonic fumigation over both of us, her eyes were closed, mouth open, snuffling quietly. I've found that a lot cuter than it had any business being, inching close to her, pulling one of her pillows gently, resting my head half on the pillow, half on her shoulder. Easing into the position she put a leg between mine, prompting me to wrap myself around her even more, allowing the soothing quiet to envelop us...

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~9~ :: Morning After_


	9. Morning After

**Chapter ~9~ :: Morning after**

**.**

I awoke with a start. Felt like a nightmare, not remembering any of it, only a lingering feeling of extreme stress and anxiety. My eyes snapped open, and I immediately noticed the naked form of Piper laying next to me, with her, shall we say, half-online cock on display. I was naked too. This was it, the source of my crushingly anxious feelings. I did the '_Underpants Charleston_' with one of my ensigns last night. In this tent, in the middle of nowhere. Our damn beacon still wasn't transmitting anything, but I let her eat me out and gave her a blowjob. Remembrances flashing through my mind only made things worse, a lot worse.

_What the hell was wrong with me? How could I be such an irresponsible idiot?_ I felt bits of my brain floating away like a wet cake. The tent was suddenly much too small to support life, I needed to get the hell out of here. My clothes were _downstairs_ I remembered... I tried not to wake Piper, but I needed to be far away from her, try to make sense of this. Completely clueless as to how could I possibly handle this, I nearly fell off the bloody tree. Stumbling to my stuff I felt nausated, so utterly disappointed in myself. Again and again I kept thinking this wasn't happening to me, that it was somebody else. Somebody else was jerking and sucking co... oh for fuck's sake, how could I let this happen? Why, _how_ was I incapable of saying no to her?

I don't know how much time has passed, I was dressed, not much further along in my argument with myself as when I descended, I noticed Piper was already here too. She had the decency to wear her nighttime clothing, those bitesized shorts and top. I turned away from her, hoping she would somehow not remember any of it, that it would turn out to have been a dream in the first place... But alas, that was not to be. She snaked her arm around, flush up against me..,  
\- " Good morning.. " - husking into my ear.

Instead of invoking warm feelings, the fact that she didn't seem to take things for granted, acting all cute and sweet... it invited a different kind of response in my mind. This was it. The moment of my ultimate defeat. I failed as a captain, quite simply as a decent human being. My entire body twitched, I flinched away from her touch.  
\- " Piper.. " - I blurted, glancing across her for a split nanosecond, focusing on the rocky ground instead... That wouldn't do however, I had to look her square in the eyes for a few more nanoseconds - " I'm sorry. "  
\- " For what? "  
\- " Last night... " - _how would I break this to her?_ \- " Was a mistake. "  
I was no longer daring to glance even just near her face, so I have no idea about her expressions.  
\- " A mistake? "  
I covered my forehead with a hand, facing the sky - " Yes. "  
There was a long, silent pause - " I get feeling a little guilty, I get one night stands, but.. "  
\- " Look.. " - I tried to say something, interrupting her, but this thought got drowned into me so hard...  
\- " LOOK?! You're the one who doesn't even look at me! " - she shouted.

My eyes flew open, my sight locking on her.., she was... angry.  
\- " Who the hell do you think you are to call _me_ a mistake?! " - I didn't expect this. I expected a perhaps.. vivid response, but...  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " Shut up! What was the bigger mistake, eating you out, or the blowjob?! "  
\- " Piper.. " - I repeated at a lower tone, my eyes shut.  
\- " A mistake! " - she exclaimed, stepping closer and pointing at me, she looked hurt and angry enough to cut me - " Wanna know what's a mistake?! "  
I couldn't reply, all those years of command experience just vanished. Granted, I never had to stand up to a crewmember whose dick I _su... ah ..._  
\- " Destroying the Caretaker's damn array! _THAT'S A FUCKING MISTAKE!_ "

That was a low blow. I felt as though I was shot, all air sucked from my lungs. She stormed off, remained nearby of course, getting her clothes but.., I couldn't look at her. I didn't expect her to be this upset about that word. I didn't expect her to bring up the destruction of the Caretaker's array. The act that stranded us in the Delta Quadrant. The decision that gave me more sleepless nights than I would ever care to admit. I never got over that. I might have acted like it, I had to after all, thanks to the decision itself, I had to appear confident and sure of what I did was the right thing. But not even Starfleet was sure about it. I didn't receive any pats on the back, not so much as an '_okay_', only an acknowledgement about our logs being received. Piper obviously hated the decision, the fact that many on the crew did, even if they wouldn't say anything about it played a big part in my anxiety of the issue. But why would she bring it up, like this? Well if she wanted to hurt me, mission accomplished.

This is why you don't have sex with people on your crew, it makes you vulnerable. Vulnerability, sharing your innermost self with someone else is perhaps the quintessential point of relationships, but a Captain cannot afford to be vulnerable. Cannot afford second guessing, hesitating because of someone else. I have to make decisions involving the entire crew, with the ability to put lives, all our lives at risk if the situation calls for it. How could I do that, when someone has this hold on me... when Piper has this hold on me...

By the time I emerged from this quiet, soul crushing contemplation, Piper was already clad in her jungle-daring outfit, complete with tools and weapons. I had no boots on, even forgot my bra, which I only realized now.  
\- " What are you doing? " - my voice was so embarassingly frail and nasal..  
\- " Getting food. "  
\- " You shouldn't go alone. "  
\- " Well, I am! "  
\- " Piper.. "  
She snapped her fingers, barging right up to me with heavy steps - " Take a dip, huh? " - she pointed to the pond with the machete - " Maybe you can wash off the filth of that mistake you made! "

Turning on her heels, she strode away swiftly. I couldn't move, my tears starting to roll. _You dumb blonde, I didn't want this to be a mistake!_ There is nothing wrong with me or you, it's the world, it's our shitty situation stuck on the other side of the galaxy that has to continually ruin everything! Why did I have to decide on this damn vacation... I tried to calm myself down at record speeds, which wasn't happening of course, then it struck. I didn't have to. I wasn't on Voyager. Nobody could see me. Vacation. Maybe not so darn horrible after all. Didn't feel like swimming, but I sat down on the shore, my feet and calves in the water. The sun comes up toward the east of course, so the trees were blocking it. I could sit there in the shade, feeling super sorry for myself. I've earned this break, the hard way. I just cried, after a minute or two I was no longer sure why was I crying, but I couldn't stop.

.

* * *

.

Finally pulling me from this rut, was the beeps of our sentry tricorder. I was leaned forward, my elbows on my knees, glaring unfocused at the flowing water. The beeps might have been going on a while before I even noticed. I've managed to calm down earlier, streaks of dried up tears covering my cheeks. As the beeping finally reached full cognition, my heart skipped a beat. What now? If it's that predator again, then the final hour of my life has sure been a shitty one.

The vertical way of approaching the tent was practically speaking offline, since the tent itself was still at the start of it's branch. I stood up, nervously glaring around, trying to discern movement in the thick greenery. Instinct made me turn around, toward the way we first came up here, and... And there they were. The intruders. They were people.

I saw two of them climbing up at first. Humanoid but non warp-capable, surely. They looked tribal, their normally reddish skin painted on, wearing skimpy outfits made of tree-bark and animal parts. Weapons at the ready, I wasn't sure if they looked at me with curiosity or as they would at prey. Can't say I was thrilled to have made first contact with the indigenous intelligent lifeforms...  
Detecting movement in my peripheral vision, I looked up to our tree to see three more of them. They were silent, slowly moving towards me, knees bent, leaning forward, holding spears and smaller clubs.

Suddenly, one of the earlier two barked something at me. Where the hell was my communicator? Oh that's right, in the fucking tent! Without the universal translator this was ought to be a long and tedious process.  
\- " Hello.. " - I held one of my hands up, forcing a lopsided smile. This is so much easier on the bridge of my ship, in my uniform. I'm simply curious up there, here... I've felt a suffocating apprehension and a very real fear for my life, plus maybe a little a curiosity.

One by the tree was next, he wasn't talking to me, rather to the guy in front of me. Pointing at our tent, our stuff. More of them had something to say suddenly, most likely about our equipment, lying all over the place. I've had this instinct, this even more nausating flock of butterflies in my stomach, that they didn't mind the loitering. I felt they've seen similar things before, things even like me. They weren't blown away to see something so similar yet so different from them, they looked suspicious, trying to ascertain a concrete question. Then, their leader, or the loudest one, how would I know, barked at me again. That was a question, I was sure. If only I knew the correct answer. I was trained for this situation. Protocols.

\- " My name is Kathryn " - I indicated myself, then opened both my palms, holding them high enough - " I come in peace. "  
He just kept glaring at me, tilting his head. Their foreheads were reminiscent of Neanderthals, robust and ugly. Their noses weren't pointy but wide and bulky, their mouths barely there, no discernable lips, just a hole. Even very unusual species can have a fascinating quality to them, if not beauty. These were simply ugly cavemen. Still taller than me, and built enough to make me absolutely loathe the idea of this turning into a violent confrontation.

The man stepped right in front of me, observing still, tilting his dumb head left and right. I tried to look suggestive, but he took his short bat and clocked me across the face. I was on the ground before I even fully knew what happened. The pain was piercing, my jaw felt as though it was burning, a noise booming in my head. I heard them ululate and shout incoherent things. I tried to get up, but I was kicked to the ground, rolled to my back. They were all around me, yelling, laughing, bashing the rock with their weapons, drumming with their feet. As a Captain there were a few times I've wished I would be a man, about 6'9'', built like a wrestler. This was one of those times. Strange, no Starfleet protocol came to mind which would detail how to get up of the floor and overpower five violent aliens. We didn't have those. Only those which called for turning the other cheek.

Suddenly I felt like I was caught by creatures of a similar intelligence level as the rodents at the man-eating tree. Except they were big and more than capable of doing damage. A pack of wild animals, nothing more than that. I whimpered something, turning into a yelp as I was kicked again. One of them snapped close to my face, shouting at an incredible volume, his weapon above his head. I put my arms up around my head, the blow didn't come immediately, but I didn't need to wait long. Somehow the pain felt secondary. It was the complete hopelessness of the situation which had me in a crushing bind. They were constantly screaming, making crazy noises, snorts and cackles, randomly striking me. I had nowhere to turn, no way to escape. They were bashing my legs, my body, my arms, I thought this would be it. I would die here. The panic qiuckly overpowered every other capability of my mind...

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~10~ :: Killer_


	10. Killer

_**Author's Notes:** _

_\- I've changed the name of Marla Gilmore to Hannah Gilmore. Simply because I can't even begin to wrap my head around the name 'Marla'. It sounds like a british mother-in-law name for me._

_\- Sorry the chapter lengths are so varied, sometimes I have fun, sometimes only the story needs to continue :)_

**_._**

**Chapter ~10~ :: Killer**

_**.**_

_Dragging.._ the first thing I remember. The last thing was getting pulled up from the ground, and struck again. The next thing was pain. My _everything_ was hurting. I was tied to a massive stick, not unlike a bamboo rod. At my ankles, my knees, my hips, my waist, my arms, my neck. There wasn't any at my shoulder, so it dipped down a little, the weight distribution forcing my forehead against the beam. Thankfully too, I think that was the only reason my head wasn't hanging, bouncing left and right during the entire journey. I would've been dead by now.

I opened my eyes a little, but that didn't provide too much extra information. Two of the damn cavemen were carrying me, walking through the jungle. _Where the hell were they taking me?_ My first instinct was to continue panicking, luckily I managed to hold it in, narrow my eyes, so they wouldn't notice me up. That was ought to go really well. The first duty of a captured Starfleet Officer, is to escape. My bonds were tight, I couldn't move my arms at all, my legs and ass were tightened quite thoroughly onto the stick as well. This was bad, if the way they captured me was any indication, not much good would await me at our destination. Also, I felt a throbbing in my head. I was barely conscious. I had an especially sharp pain in my chest, on the left. A few broken ribs, if I had to guess. My only hope: I wasn't bleeding, getting infected somewhere I couldn't possibly see.

Pressing my forehead against the stick was painful, but at least it felt like a stable position. I thought about Piper, wondered if she was in a similar situation somewhere, or looking for me. If she never just runs off this never would've happened. If I order her to stay put this never would've happened. If I don't tell her last night was a mistake this never would've happened. If I stay the Captain, and don't turn into a sex-starved whore, this never would've happened. If I never decide on this 'vacation', this... ah, what's the point. The bloody neanderthals were quiet, but then one of them barked something. As a result, I was dropped to the ground. Into the only slightly muddy, kinda hard ground, hitting my back first, then the beam punching my face. I was gritting my teeth anyway, avoiding to cry out from the sharp pain this caused in my torso. How could this possibly get any worse? I opened my eyes narrowly as their commotion stopped. Same jungle, same thick growth. They appeared to be listening, so I did too. Nothing. Then a peculiar trudging, footsteps. I turned toward the sound, well as much as the binding would let me, and saw one of the aliens turn around too. The greenery fuzzed, and a heartbeat later I saw a glinting blade pop out of his back. All air left my lungs, all my muscles tightening up. The blade carved out toward the side, blood getting spewed everywhere, the alien falling to the ground in the next moment, his head landing right by me. Piper.

Once again, my mind's ability to record everything lapsed, They started ululating again, I closed my eyes, hoping no one would step on me. I felt streak of warm liquid fall on me, after the sound of slashing. Blood. This cringed me to my core, what the hell was Piper doing? I tried to wrench myself free again, but there was no use. Even if I somehow had the strength to do it, trying to move hurt so much... They really did a number on me before tying me up. The clash continued, Piper moving like a fury, deadly and precise. The aliens were like animals, wild and without control.

One time she had to dodge a spear, it's jagged, and likely sharp tip would've been quite deadly. The move left her vulnerable, taking a blow from another's stick. She barely made a sound, knocked to the ground. The alien pounced for another strike, but she could get on her knees quicker, fetching her knife and plunging into his stomach. She got up, pushing the blade further, eviscerating her opponent. In the next moment, she sliced him twice more. I wasn't sure how much of this I was actually seeing, or perhaps it was a nightmare. Piper was.. very deadly. Before long, it was just her and the '_leader_', with the spear.

She dodged and avoided his next strikes, eventually loosing her knife in the process, but the lance was broken too. Might've been faster, and exceedingly more dexterous, but that caveman was strong as a bull. She struck him many times, but only a few blows from him were enough to come out equal. Anyway, Piper went full ninja on him, jumping onto the man, spinning him with her own weight, causing him to fall over. I will never forget what happened next. Evidently, she ended up in a better position, earning her a free punch. She hit him so hard the sound of it made my blood chill. Wearing her gloves of course, she was protected. But then, straddling his torso, she towered over him, striking again. And again. And again... I'm not sure how many times, but blood was getting spilled everywhere, slushing off her fists as she raised them. Eventually growling with every blow, she finally stopped, and heaving heavily, still sitting on him.

There was this alien by my feet, he got struck down early, but kept moaning and twitching. Piper got on all fours, crawling to the machete, getting up only to drive it into him, striking from above her head with full force. She put her boot on him, pulling it out. Like he would've been one of those bugs. He didn't make a sound or movement anymore though. Sheathing the sword, she fetched whatever else she might've dropped, collapsing to her knees by me. I looked up at her hazily, she was covered in blood.., and I mean covered. Couldn't be sure how much was hers, the aliens' seemed to have the same color. In that sleeveless camo top, her shoulders, her hair, her face, the entire length of her arms was all bloody.  
\- " Kathryn.. " - she panted, cutting my bindings.  
I guess this was the extent my brain could take, I lost consciousness soon after.

**« std::endl;**

Next I came to, I was lying down. Still in pain, wet and hot. It was raining. Scarcely would I describe rain as comfortable, but this time it was warm, which made it even less comfortable. Breathing hot humid air, slushing in warm wetness... for a few moments I wasn't even sure I wouldn't be rolling around in my own blood. I heard a strange whistling noise, a sharp pain from my back. I turned with a start, bumping into Piper.  
\- " Shh... " - she took the medical instrument, putting a hand on me instead - " You're okay. "  
\- " Where.. are we..? " - I struggled to get the words out.  
\- " Safe. "

We were underneath a few leaves, the water streaking down in only a few spots. It was raining cats and dogs though. She gently pushed me back into position.  
\- " I'm still treating your injuries. "  
\- " How bad..? "  
I heard her respond, but as I put my head back, my eyelids became much too heavy.

**« std::endl;**

The noise of the rain woke me. Or at least I thought, I guess it had been there for the past hours. It was dark. I've no longer felt like I was hit by starship, only a shuttle maybe. Leaning up a little to find my bearings, I had to realize I was up on a tree, laying on a rather substantial branch. This was no normal tree, the branches were flattened, and there was a lot of them. We've seen these earlier, never climbed one, yet. I would've called them nested trees, or something like that. The branches fanned out from the central trunk at specific points, gradually smaller toward the top. There was no protrusion between such 'levels', and they were over 5 meters apart. I had been lying against the trunk, I guess safe enough from the depth underneath. Rain didn't fall directly on me, but everything was wet, including myself. Glancing along the branch, I've finally noticed Piper, sitting further out, soaking in the showers.

My head started spinning as I straightened up, pulling myself toward the bark, leaning against it. I was covered in mesh bandages, prompting me to touch &amp; feel my ribcage. I appeared to be intact, Piper must've been busy. She didn't notice me, sitting in silence, dangling her feet, her back hunched, glaring forward. What do I say? Report Ensign? Only Ensign? Screw that.  
\- " Piper..! "  
\- " Captain! " - well she did use the rank...

She sprung up, quickly tiptoeing along the branch to me. Her long and shapely legs were so pretty, those thin little ankles above her bulky shoes... _God how far down the rabbit hole I had to be to notice these things in such a situation._  
She knelt down close to me - " How are you feeling? "  
\- " Good, considering.. " - I didn't feel good. I felt like shit, for multiple reasons... Anyway, I noticed a bandage on her shoulder I couldn't see until now - " What about you? "

She shook, putting her fists down, then lowering her head too. - " I'm so sorry, Captain... " - her voice was breaking up - " I never should've left you there. " - Her head down, she wasn't even looking at me, this wasn't the self-assured Piper I knew. Perhaps she was actually remorseful.  
\- " It's alright... "  
\- " It's not, though.. " - she glanced in my eyes for a moment, the very little white of her eyes visible was completely bloodshoot, not all the liquids there were from the rain.. - " You could've just as easily been raped and murdered. "

_You don't say..._ \- " Well, I was only taken away. "  
\- " And beaten. You had three broken ribs, contusions everywhere. "  
I sighed - " The point is you've found me and treated me. "  
\- " Most of our med stuff is low on charge now.., next time.. "  
\- " There won't be a next time. ... "  
\- " Running off like a sulking little bitch was a courtmarshal offense. "  
\- " Calling our night together a mistake was the courtmarshal offense. " - I kind of surprised myself with that sentence. I didn't exactly know why I said that, but it was there, blurted, so too bad.  
She's finally settled her eyes on mine. I knelt up too, reaching for her hair, carding it out of her face.

\- " Nothing that we've done on this planet was by the books. After the first night we should've located a higher, safer place, set up a proper perimeter, boost the beacon's signal as much as possible and sit there, waiting to be rescued. Instead, we've slept in, gathered food in spite of our rations, lounged the evening away, and.. then we made love. And uhm.., staggering it may be to admit, even covered in bandages I'd pick this over following the damn protocols to the letter. "  
\- " Kathryn..? "  
\- " Just don't leave me alone again, huh? "  
She sniffled, wiping her face - " I won't. "

Since she didn't move, I had to. Inching closer, I pushed our foreheads together first, then gingerly kissed her. Piper finally responded, I shifted my position, practically throwing myself at her, hugging tightly as she tentatively did the same. Shivers, warm and fuzzy sensations skittered across me, this felt so wonderful. This closeness, the act of leaning on somebody, instead of an entire ship leaning on me. Sure, that was rewarding, and I seemed to be pretty good at it too, but forgetting about all that for just this once felt perfect to recharge my batteries.

Piper simply let me go, as we've stopped kissing, I missed her ravenous demeanor.  
\- " Are you alright? "  
\- " Yeah.. " - she shrugged, lifting her shoulder with the bandage - " It's superficial. "  
\- " I meant you, not your body. " - her face seemed to be in a constant state of lopsided frowning.  
\- " I'm fine. " - she declared sternly.  
I wasn't about to argue with her - " Why don't you come in from the rain? " - I reached for her, but she pulled away.

\- " It feels nice. "  
Not liking this at all, I tried again... - " Piper.. "  
\- " Just.. " - she switched into the crab position - " rest, huh? " - moving away, she went back to dangling her legs off the branch.  
Something was obviously wrong, and I had a pretty good idea what. Her arms were still bloody here and there, especially the gloves she was still wearing. All the nooks and crannies of the knuckle protection were stained with bloody smearings. Her clothes too, the rain might've been falling, but that alone wouldn't wash those out.

\- " Piper, if there is something you'd want to talk ab... "  
\- " There is nothing I want to talk about. "  
\- " Will you tell me what happened? "  
She sighed, then shrugged - " I've met two of them. I had my communicator on, they were talking, so after a while it started to work. I went by the protocols but they didn't seem to care. Something about me not being one of the harvesters. Whatever the fuck those are. Then, something about how they should present me to the harvesters instead. That they would be spared, rewarded, whatever. They communicate with single dumb words. They wanted to grab me, when I didn't let them they fetched their clubs and shouted at me. One of them tried to stab with me with a short, javelin-like weapon. Their movements are strong but undisciplined, I deflected the blow and plunged it into his throat. He died instantly. I tried to knock the other one out, but he wouldn't stay down. I tried to choke him but that almost broke my back as he went into a barrel roll into a tree. So I pulled my knife and stabbed him se... several times. " - she paused, glaring at me for several long seconds before looking away - " I rushed back to our camp but you weren't there. They threw our stuff around, tried to cut the rope holding the tent, but their knives must be a few centuries too blunt for that. Could've pulled a wedge from the tree and cut it with that, but they are obviously way too fucking retarded for anything other than their gods and their violence. Anyway, I could follow the trail they've left, especially with the tricorder's tracking assistance. Seeing you on that stick made me double super safety sure diplomacy wasn't going to work. So I killed all of them too. " - she sighed - " And no, I don't where they came from, and I haven't seen any more of them. "

Well.. knowing she's run into them beforehand was reassuring. After what they did to me I really wasn't going to blame her for getting me the hell away from those cavemen at the earliest, instead of waiting out where they would take me or mount a more diplomatic rescue mission.  
\- " Don't you want to talk about it? "  
\- " The killing doesn't bother me. "  
\- " Doesn't it? "  
\- " No. " - she looked me square in the eyes - " It doesn't. " - she faced forward again - " I'm angry because I almost got you killed. "  
\- " Piper, I'm not blaming you for what happened. "  
\- " Well you should. "  
\- " But I'm not. So please, try to calm do.. "  
\- " I don't care what you do or don't do. I'm dissappointed in myself, get it?! It's internal. We are also violating about two dozen directives here. " - she puffed, shaking her head - " This is weird. "  
\- " What is? "  
\- " Talking to you about this. "  
\- " How so? "  
\- " Because if you were anyone else, we would be talking about how to present all of this in our report, so we could avoid spending the rest of our journey in the brig. "  
\- " If anyone deserves to be locked up after this it's me. "  
\- " Oh, please... "  
\- " It was my complete incompetence in handling my personal problems that got us into this mess. I can't, and I won't blame you for wanting to save my life, and your own! "  
\- " So it's all okay? "  
\- " No it's not _okay_, Piper. But it is what happened, we can't change it. What we have to do now is make every effort to minimize further damage. "

She remained silent for over a minute.., at least I had time to figure this out in myself too. I wasn't upset when this conversation started, but now I was. It didn't make what I said any less true though, things were the way they were. I've just felt even more guilty about Piper.  
\- " So what are your orders, Captain? "  
~ _Don't call me Captain.._ ~ is what I wanted to say. Captain Janeway wouldn't have had sex with you, and would have prevented the grave violation of the Prime Directive, because she would've had time to check for intelligent lifeforms, and then avoid them. But we only had Kathryn Janeway with us, who was, even now, more upset about how cold Piper seemed to be with her, and not with way we've managed to dishonor our uniform. Our only saving grace was the fact that neither of us wanted these things to happen. Very weak consolation that was though.

\- " We need to contain the contamination. At first light we should return to our campsite and gather our things. How far are we? "  
\- " 1.89 kilometers. "  
\- " That's doable. We should assume the worst, that more of them are looking for us, since the shuttle crash must've been a rather unforgettable experience. We will fix the beacon and try to scan further, gather information and contact Voyager. We may need to return to our shuttle too. " -_ to all the bugs_.

These people must know about the bugs, and unless they know how to tame entire hives of them, they should steer clear of the shuttle's position. Piper merely nodded.  
\- " How long until daybreak? "  
She checked the tricorder strapped to her belt - " Little less than three hours. "  
\- " Then for the next little less than three hours, we will relax. "  
Piper chuckled faintly, nodding - " Of course. "  
\- " That was an order, Ensign! "  
Looking at me briefly, she went back to staring into the dark jungle, soaking in the rain - " I wish Hannah was here... " - only a murmur, but I could make it out.

Hannah. There were two Hannahs on board, but she must've meant Ensign Gilmore. The other Hannah was the most angelic science officer, much too preoccupied with her books and sensor analysies to care about someone like Piper. Now I was angry. What can Ensign Hannah Gilmore do that Captain Kathryn Janeway can't?! She was one of the people we have adopted from the USS Equinox. The engineer to be precise, the one who came up with the warp core modifications to utilize the material Captain Ransom's genocide provided them. She was a good mechanic, serving with distinction on Voyager, so I reinstated her as an officer against my better judgment. Seriously doubted that was what Piper saw in her though, I think it was more the fact that she is a blue-eyed blonde hottie.

\- " Could you talk to her? "  
\- " Talking isn't what I need. "  
_~ Then what is, fucking? ~_ As far as I knew they weren't a couple. Although that suggested nothing. Unfortunately I was kind of convinced that inner Katie's blurted suggestion was correct.  
\- " Then what is? "  
\- " You don't know who I am.., Kathryn. " - she gave me this suggestive look, I had goosebumps - " Trust me it's better that way. "  
\- " Oh, I beg to differ... "  
I let the pause go on for more than a minute, but she wasn't breaking the silence this time.  
\- " Piper if you have a problem, I want to know about it. It doesn't matter how you are strategically switching between Captain and Kathryn, both of them want to know about it. "  
She let the seconds roll again - " Is that an order? "  
\- " I'd rather not make it one. "  
\- " Then don't. "

Well, I suppose I've walked right into that one. I wasn't keen on letting this one go, but it was obviously something she didn't wish to discuss, something '_internal_'. Nobody likes to talk about such things during an interrogation session, and that's what this was turning into, so I've decided to change my tactics. Conversation. I allowed her several minutes of reprieve, getting myself back to the bark, leaning against it. The rain made it softer, for my ass too, and since it was all warm, once I somehow forced myself to stop regarding everything I touched yucky, the comfort level was adequate. Wouldn't take more than half a day for the constant wetness to drive me completely insane, but we weren't there yet.  
\- " Tell me about the Naraahl then. "  
Turning to me, she gave me the look, then glared forward - " What would you like to know? "  
_~ How come you have a huge dick? ~_ now, if I could arrive by this point a little more delicately...  
\- " I thought you were a bona fide girl. "  
\- " Most people do. "  
What an amazing answer, we were off to a flying start.  
\- " Even your file says so. "  
\- " Yes well, putting '_Complicated_' wasn't an option for the gender bracket. "  
\- " Is it complicated? "

She glanced at me briefly - " All Naraahl look like me. But we are born without... functionality down there. " - she sighed - " Or rather, we come equipped with the basics for both genders. .._Inside_. _The basic stems inside_, at glance, we are like a child's doll. When two people develop an attraction for each other, they actualize, as in one of them turns into an actual female, the other into an actual male. Exactly what decides the roles is a subject of active research. Once this is done, the female will produce eggs in her gland, because we only have one, and develops you know.., a slot. The boy develops a rod, and little soldiers to shoot from it. As I'm sure you'd ask, this is where it gets interesting. Actual females produce potent feromones to attract mates, the person who made them actualize is only a link in the chain. Their womb first turns into a boiling pot of DNA, they mate with several actual males, allowing the offspring to be molded from more, sometimes a lot more than the genetic makeup of two parents. The Vigor of Kav'Raahl, if you remember. " - she paused for a few moments - " The actualisation lasts until the babies are born for the female, and for a rough average of the same time in males, after which they revert to being complicated. These transformations take months of course, they don't happen overnight. "

\- " Can a person actualise again, perhaps into a different gender? "  
\- " Yes.., and yes. That's the usual way in fact. But years pass between such periods. "  
\- " So you are in a male period of yours now? "  
\- " No... " - she shook her head, looking at me - " Coming of age, for us, is the time when the body gains the ability to actualise, that's when I moved to Earth. " - she resumed glaring forward - " I find women attractive, because you look a lot like all Naraahl, males are... like hideous aliens to me. So, even though the scholars say there are many variables to this, it didn't come as a surprise to me that I developed the equipment that I did. Now normally, the fact that girls you have mated with give birth start a chemical shift in your body, prompting you to loose the ability to get aroused. Carrying nonfunctional equipment is pointless, so you revert. This is guaranteed to happen because during these mating periods the people involved come together, form larger communities, etc... Like I said, for a human, used to families and stuff, this is basically inconciveable, but you know, it's normal for us. Companionship and the pooling of resources come much more naturally to us than humans. Or rather, it didn't require laws or an intellectual revolution, it's instinct. I'm sure you see where I'm going with this. "

\- " That didn't happen for you. "  
\- " No. My little soldiers are made for Naraahl females, for the enzimes and stuff in their bodies to be able to fertilize eggs. There should be very few, if any, other species I could impregnate. Even if I could, that's not what 20 year old human, trill or whatever.. chicks are looking for. So, long story short, since I continued to be surrounded with females, their beauty, their presence, their feromones, I've never reverted. In fact, I can't.., _not anymore_. "  
\- " Your body has lost the ability? "  
\- " Yeah. " - she sighed - " The cells, you know, stem cells if you wanna call 'em that.. " - she shrugged - " They stopped being stem cells. My organs forgot how to be anything else. The duality is no longer present in their genetic material. In fact, I'm a little... shall we say, overdeveloped for roughly the same reasons. "

She shifted her position, fiddling with her hair, so I waited, and rightfully so.  
\- " I've been called a '_she_' from the start.. " - she continued - " By my '_parents_', by everyone. I've learned to identify with the female gender. I've never had problems making other girls aware of my... _condition_. And since I seem to have a genetic disposition toward unbridled honesty... " - she sighed bitterly, I smiled, true, Piper never had the problem of lying or telling half truths even when facing reprimands... - " I will tell you, that I take perverse pleasure in men being attracted to me, so I can shoot them down in cruel and profound ways. " - she wasn't facing me directly, but I could see a sneer - " Gender based apartheid in Red Squad never phased me either. If it phased others, they were told that this is Red Squad, there's the door if you don't like something. I was usually banded with the guys though, what my file might have said made little difference. "

During most of her story she seemed content with educating me, however there was a part where she was less than pleased to tell me about it. Most notably the part about her permanent male-ness. I had a feeling that most of her *problem* has been exposed. This was very interesting of course, I made a mental note to seek out and attend a xenobiology or anthropology seminar on the Naraahl if we ever get back to the Alpha Quadrant, but I had to stay focused on more current issues. All I had to do was seal the deal.  
\- " So what's your problem? "  
She gave me a stern look again, sighing, then gazing downward. The rain continued to roll and drip down her shoulders, her hair, her face. I only had to wait.

\- " My problem is that most likely Kav'Raahl, the titan himself was a gender changing weirdo. I was never supposed to get locked into guy mode. I didn't mention this with our larger communities earlier.. because community itself is a stupid word. We are different, and english doesn't have the words to describe the concepts we have. Suffice it to say, actual males are violent. There is a competition for females, so that they are in your bunch. It's the space age, so the laws against violence are not lifted because of mating proceedings.. " - she chuckled - " I like to think we are more developed than Vulcans due to this, for example. Anyway, the instincts are obviously still there. You asked me what drove me to be a soldier earlier. This did. " - she looked at me, and stayed that way for the rest of this: - " I'm violent. There are two things I ache to do: prove my physical prowess and fuck girls. "

I've heard about worse burdens to bare, but I didn't want to turn this into a joke. She obviously didn't think this was funny, and those hazy remembrances I had of her... disposing the aliens convinced me as well. But I still wasn't sure this was such a problem. She was under my command for years, yes, now all those reprimands made sense, but her escapades were never quite so serious, hence them earning reprimands, not brig-time.

\- " Is it really so severe? "  
\- " Yes, it is severe! " - she raised her voice, then made an apparent effort to go back to normal volume - " Sure, I can make a rational argument about why I killed every single alien we've met. The first two was self-defense, that's actually true. But the five who had you? I wanted to kill them. Yes, trying to trap them, lure some away, trying to render them unconscious some other way might've left us both dead, or might've been impossible, even after a long analysis by Tuvok, but I didn't care! I went there and I killed them because I wanted to. Because they had you. Because I wanted to see their blood spilled, to see their bodies broken, life driven from them! " - her voice was deep, breaking up as she fought her tears.

All thoughts about how her '_condition_' was a bit of perverse fun left me in instant. She was dead serious, and I was actually a little frightened. Many different thoughts surged as well, I need to have her courtmartialled! Or at least seriously reexamine her file and everything I knew about her. But why bother? What would it change? Technically when faced with the Prime Directive ships and their crew are considered expendable. According to the regulations I hold so dearly, she was supposed to leave me to my fate, get all our stuff back to the shuttle and blow it up. Then whether she gets rescued by Voyager or not is secondary, the point is further contamination of the planet must be minimalized. Selfish it may be, I was glad she had saved me.  
\- " I'm so fucking horny too! I'm sitting like this so you can't see it. "  
\- " I didn't notice.. " - I don't know why I said that. Maybe to somehow reassure her that it's not that severe. But it was.  
\- " Because if I think about severly injured, bleeding kittens crawling and crying over their dead siblings and mewing at their dead mother for long enough, it might go away. Then you started kissing me. "  
\- " I'm sorry, I didn't... "  
\- " It's not your fault. It's my fault that I'm a fucking freak! Violence makes me horny, sex makes me violent. Got that tied up in a vicious little circle. "  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " There! Now you know my problem. Can we please talk about something else?! "

_She must've been aware of this for long enough..!_ \- " Isn't there a way to help you? "  
Snickering primly, she shook her head - " I could get injections. You know, things that dampen the effect of, or inhibit certain hormones. You're a _bona fide_ woman as you put it, so I'm not sure you will understand. "  
\- " Try me. "  
\- " Taking something that stops me getting aroused, my dick getting hard.., " - she puffed, shrugging and opening her arms - " I might as well be dead. No. I either control this or off myself. "

Maybe not understand, but I could appreciate that point. But she has to be able to control it, I mean, come on! She was making this sound like it is by pure chance she hasn't murdered half of Voyager by now. And no, it wasn't that severe. I would've known about it then.  
\- " Hannah helps you control it? "  
\- " In a manner of speaking. I've never told the whole story to anyone... " - she sighed, shaking her head - " And no, I don't feel the least bit better because I told you. "  
\- " What does she do then? "  
Piper looked at me, those beautiful eyes narrowed in a questioning glare. I've returned the proper look. _~No, I'm not giving up on you bitch, get used to it!~_

She sighed heavily - " We fuck. " - she squirmed uncomfortably - " She.. appreciates my dimensions, okay? She's not like: 'oh, be gentle' or 'oh, that's too deep'. She scratches and bites, I choke her, pull her hair, all the while nearly breaking the fucking bed, okay? _That's_ what I do with Hannah. "  
_~I'd love for you to do that to me~_ Inner Katie blurted, but I didn't agree with her. I still felt jealous in some way. What a perfectly fucked up pair we made. Anyway, this wasn't the time for this bullshit.  
\- " Any way I can help you? "  
\- "_ Shutting the hell up..?!_ "  
Except for that, of course.  
\- " Piper... " - I started to make an effort to move toward her.  
\- " Cap.. Kathryn, please just leave me alone! It will go away. "  
\- " We don't know what's waiting for us in the morning, I can't have you in this state. "  
\- " You won't. It will go away. " - she sounded about as convinced about that as I would have been stating my attraction toward her will simply go away.  
I kept moving... - " Captain, please don't come any closer. "

Since she seemed to be incapable of loosing the rank suddenly - " Does it bother you that I'm your.. "  
\- " Yes, it obviously does! "  
\- " It didn't seem to, yesterday. " - I thought I could afford being a little snippy.  
\- " You didn't call it a mistake yesterday. "  
_Ouch._  
\- " I never wanted you to know about this, let alone lay it on you, okay? Please. "  
\- " Well you did, and I'm glad you did. "  
\- " I'm not. "  
\- " This is nothing to be ashamed of Piper, you are simply diff... "  
\- "_ Pfft, of course, yes._ Let's appreciate all forms of life like good Federation citizens. "  
\- " You can try all you want, you won't convince me about being a monster Piper. "  
\- " It's been quite a while since I actually killed like this, okay? This is serious. You're the one who doesn't know what she is talking about. _I'm not normal_, get it? This isn't me being an actual male Naraahl, this is way fucking past that, unpredictable! " - I arrived, right next to her - " Get away from me! "

\- " I won't, Piper. "  
\- " Why?! "  
\- " Because we are in this together, and together is the only way we are getting out! Turning a blind eye and ordering you to sort yourself is not the way I handle things. I'm cut from a different marble. "  
\- " I don't want to hurt you. "  
\- " You won't. You are in control! " - I could see the raging erection in her pants, the bulge reaching all the way to her hipbone.  
\- " You have no idea what this is like! "  
\- " I know what _you_ are like! "  
\- " This is not your problem! "  
\- " I'm making it my problem! "  
\- " You've already told me how you've felt about what happened so... "  
\- " I thought we have settled.., I didn't mean that! " - I reached for her shoulder, turning her ever so slightly so she would face me.  
\- " When people blurt something like that, they usually fucking mean it! "  
\- " I didn't blurt it, I spent every second after I've climbed out of the tent trying to figure out what I would tell you. Yes, I've managed to come up with the dumbest crap. "  
\- " I'm not involving my commanding officer in my personal sh..! "  
\- " You already have! And if you think the truth about yourself would discourage me from being here for you, you are dead wrong! " - I carded the hair behind her ear - " Please let me help you Piper, don't shut me out! "  
Her face was desperate, gritting her teeth and pushing her lips shut. She took a deep breath through her nose, boring deep into my eyes...

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~11~ :: No Means Yes_


	11. No Means Yes

_**Author's Note:** This chapter has been revamped and updated on 2015.06.18._  
_**Warning:** dubcon._

**.**  
**Chapter ~11~ :: No means yes**

**.**

The mushroom-lit jungle was quite mesmerizing. The tree we've found shelter on had several of the large orange ones infesting nearby branches, their smaller green / red counterparts sitting on the hanging vines all around. Rain was pouring, however humidity couldn't possibly be any higher than it already was since we've arrived, making it an actually refreshing event. Temperatures felt maybe a little lower as well, and there was something weirdly alluring about getting soaked in the rain, our feet dangling off a tree.

I would never claim I understood what was happening in Piper's head. I could barely even imagine it. The fiercest demons are the ones living in one's own mind, as they say. She would need something better than sitting in the rain, that felt like a safe bet. Flashes of the earlier night we shared were so vivid in my memory. My mind might have been a little overwhelmed with all the different things to consider, so I guess it had to prioritize. The priority was Piper, and not much else. I could try sugarcoating it, but the naked truth was: _I wanted her_, circumstances were neither here nor there for me, I wanted her. I knew she wanted me. Sounded pretty straightforward in my head.

\- " How would you help me? " - she asked in a whisper.  
I didn't reply, just put my hand on her inner thigh, caressing along the wet skin.  
\- " The boner is really secondary right now... "  
\- " What would you like then? "  
She chuckled, shaking her head - " I'd like a holodeck with a hundred Klingon warriors.., a very, very sharp Bath'Let and the safeties off. "  
\- " What would you do to them? " - I husked, leaning even closer.  
\- " Turn them into mince meat, while getting roughed the fuck up. "  
Well, I had no holodecks in my pocket - " And afterwards? "  
\- " A girl.. or two. " - she growled softly as I fondled her bulge up and down.. - " Holograms wouldn't cut it there tho'.. "  
All I had to do was smile, biting my lip, slowly running my gaze over her tensed up body...

Keeping her hands on the bark she leaned toward me, smooching me on my neck, beneath my ear. Finally. The wet warmth from her mouth felt so much better than the rain. I heard her take a breath, pulling away just a little.  
\- " A blowjob _won't_ settle things this time... " - her voice was completely different, husky and deep.., she moved her head to face me directly, our gazes locking together - " You know that, right? "

Thus has the final moment I could've stopped any of this pass. I didn't realize that until later. All I did was a smirk, and:  
\- " Let's see.. " - then I kissed her, so there was no reply, and I forgot about it too.  
Our kiss deepened, turning into a makeout session, cut short when she pressed into me a bit more substantially, I suddenly lost my balance for a split second, a fright coursing through me about falling off the tree. I put hand on her chest, calming things.

\- " Let's go back there... " - I whispered, opting for the slow and safe method of crabwalking, or maybe I should say dragging my arse back to the trunk. I was reminded of my physical condition immediately, my body aching at too many points to count during this 'exertion'.  
Piper agreed, standing up, walking along the branch as I sat down 'in the nest' by the trunk. The closer we were to the center the less rainfall, since the 'nest' above us would block it out. In my head the scenario was that Piper would sit facing the same way as me, so I could pamper her with kisses, while.. fondling her down there. But she had other plans, apparently.

Before reaching me she leaned down, pulling my chin up for some more wet kissing. My hands were up to guide her down the way I imagined, but they were ignored. She assaulted my lips, rough and ravenous, using a lot of tongue. I may have preferred a more refined style, but this was Piper... I loved it. Eventually she started pulling me up.  
\- " Get up... "  
I didn't really move, straightened my back to ease the pressure around the base of my head, moaning.  
\- " Get up on your knees... "

She squeezed and pulled so hard I had to move lest she tears my head off. I quickly realized I'm not the one in charge here, but this little loss of control didn't phase me, on the contrary. I grabbed onto her shapely thighs to switch my legs around. The wet bark could have been a little softer for comfort, but that was pushed to the back of my mind at record speeds. Ending up super close to her bite-sized short shorts, bulged out by her cock... that was all I could think about, how she wanted me... I'm afraid my mind was completely oblivious to the fact that at this point she would have wanted anything with a soft, warm and wet hole on it.

She stood in stride on two branches, her crotch perfectly level with my face. I undid her belt, her shorts, tugging it down only a little, flipping her cock out of the underwear. A shudder coursed through me, it appeared even more imposing than last time, no doubt thanks to my point of view, as it swayed, looming above me, bigger than my face. Moving her hips, I got the vibe there was no time to waste, no teasing, I quickly took her under my care. I rather enjoyed the slightly more musky taste, how it was little fluffy still.., but that didn't last long, her arousal rapidly reached the point where her hardness was completely erect, throbbing in my hands and pointing skyward. I've found myself obsessing over this, how she felt superbly horny for me.

Piper was content letting me lick along her shaft, helping me with it, but then her dominating demeanor intensified, she established a firm grip holding my hair, and pushing her cock into my mouth. She was so needy and rash, I wasn't quite so ready to choke on her right away, trying to pull away.  
\- " Keep your tongue out, huh?! " - yes, I remembered..  
\- " Pip.. "  
\- " Shh..! " - she actually stepped forward a little by then, the back of my head reached the treetrunk behind me, leaving me without an escape route.  
Piper was so rough, forcing that massive cock into my throat, I had my hands on her crotch, but I had no way to stop her or even slow her down. Sufficently intense actions summon sufficently intense reactions however, after another rough attempt I managed to break away, coughing violently.  
\- " Pip.. "  
\- " Shut up! " - she slapped me, grabbing my chin in the same motion, pulling it up.  
I had tears in my eyes from the gag reflex, suddenly chilled to the bone. Blinking rapidly, I waited with bated breath as she leaned down to me.  
\- " I thought you _wanted_ to be my little bunny? " - she asked sharply, her expression carrying a dash of viciousness.  
Gasping and taking rapid breaths, I didn't reply.  
\- " Huh?! " - using her grip on my chin to yank me a little, she did, pushing her thumb in my mouth.  
\- " Mhmm..! " - I moaned affirmative, unable to do much else.  
\- " Then be good little bunny, huh?! " - her tone was very warm for that, smooching me gingerly too. Very wet and lewd with her thumb still there, but ginger none the less.  
As we started again, she might have been slightly less rough with it. Allowing me some leeway when I was about to choke to death, taking the time to drive her dick along my lips, getting all of it wet and sloppy while I panted, trying to stay alive.

I'm not sure what exactly was going through my head, it's like getting thrown into a brand new situation, where you are expected to do well, automatically. No one has ever done anything even close to this to me before, the surprise and simply the whole act was filling me with apprehension, and at the same time, the same two things were turning me on, pushing me forward, making me that much more eager. Continually getting tears in my eyes, I was moaning, breathing hoarsely whenever I could, my nose got snotty, I was a mess. ... Even worse, I kinda liked it. Not neccessarily the whole package, but Piper was obviously enjoying herself, moaning her girly moans from time to time, whispering encouraging words while she absolutely dominated me. Her eyes constantly boring into mine, her entire facial expression speaking volumes about how much she liked this. How _at home_ she was with all of this. That was the brand new aspect of it, the brand new experience which I've found strangely alluring. That she would be so unbridled, so absolutely sure what she wanted and how to get it...

Eventually she started to slap her dick into my lips, that was painful, enough to make my flinch strong enough to spin from her grasp, at least a little. I heard her take a substantial breath, readying her hand to slap me. I turned away even more, taking my breath and closing my eyes.  
There was no slap, but she did pull me up to a standing position in a rather rapid and painful manner. Not asking me anything, she merely glared at me.  
\- " That hurts.., Piper.. " - I mean, it wasn't unlike getting hit in the face with a steel pipe.  
\- " Awww... " - she cooed, suddenly her face shifting to this cute, slightly tipped expression - " You are so cute when you're little fucked up... " - she breathed, assaulting my lips.  
Her hands were cradling my face, these latest smooches turning very gentle and soft. It felt so amazing after all the roughness... She still had her gloves on though, the leather felt colder, rigid even on the side of her palm. Reminding me about many things. I'm fairly certain I was afraid of her on some level, but these kisses, her tongue... so gentle and soft, I was melting inside. The discomforts I've felt were easily overpowered by this fierce desire inside me. I guess I wanted to feel feelings again. Not uplifting catharsis, not the warmth of watching a sunset together with someone... This. Desire, sex. Young and bold, unlike the crap on the holodeck.  
Bumping into me with her entire body, her rock hard cock throbbing at my abdomen, the way I felt like she was holding my everything in place, this feeling of being out of control. It may sound crazy, it does even to me, but I didn't care at the time. I wanted more of this, more of her.

Her hands leaving my head, she leaned away, tearing at my shirt, pulling it up. This was still the shirt I put on in the tent, skimpy, and there was nothing more underneath. She grabbed my boobs firmly, squeezing, canting down to lick and bite at them. I moaned aloud, my arms stretching along the treebark by themselves, my head lifting. Slapping them next, she continued roughly manhandling me, sometimes I hissed, sometimes I moaned some more, loosing my grip on reality more and more. Eventually only one of her hand was involved, the other one viciously jerking her cock whenever I looked.  
Next, she squatted down and ripped of my bottoms in one swift motion, right over all my injuries. While I bit my lip at the pain, she took a step back, staring at me when I opened my eyes again.  
\- " You're so fucking hot... "  
I smiled, but then she seized my neck, assaulting my lips, her other hand landing between my thighs. Oh... red alert! I guess the less crazy person inside me realized what's about to happen. I moved my hands to grab her, I don't know what I hoped to accomplish with that, though. Piper was so strong and assertive, not a chance I could even slow her down. Her fingers were rubbing my center, first pinching my lips together, then exploring between them, then...  
\- " Piper..! " - I was completely ignored, her grip on my neck intensifying.  
She leant away, only to spit in the hand and spread it on my pussy. Her fingers down there felt really good, she wasn't hurting me, only.. in my head, this was making me cringe. Even without the saliva I was wet and turned on, sensitive, but... This sudden apprehension still sent shockwaves across my body, even though I should've seen this coming. Right there, when still sitting on the branch. Letting me go only to grab me elsewhere, she flipped me around, shoving into the trunk.  
\- " No..! Wait.. " - I yelped, trying to turn my body back...  
\- " Shhh! " - she pulled on my hip roughly, but I kept squirming - " Push your ass out! "  
\- " Piper..! " - we kept fighting for position, or to avoid it for a bit, but then she reached in front of me, one arm from above my shoulder, the other from my side, locking her arms tightly around my body, pulling me away from the tree. My back was arched, her hardness stuck between my legs.

I was so confused, that rock hard, scorching hot cock throbbing, forced against my crotch, I wanted her inside me so much... Felt like I wanted it the last time already, I just couldn't admit it. On the other hand, this really wasn't at all like I imagined it would be.  
\- " I warned you bunny... " - heaving, she kept thrusting her huge erection between my thighs, damn that was so unbeliveably hot and scary at the same time - " Bunny's gonna get fucked now... " - she growled into my ear, and I.. believed her.  
\- " Please be gentle... "  
\- " Gentle..? " - she snickered, squeezing me a little stronger - " Do I feel like your ex-fiancé? "  
I didn't reply.  
\- " Do you want Mark, or do you want Me?! "  
\- " You..! I want you! " - the groping and the thrusts never stopping, I was starting to be beside myself.  
\- " Good. " - letting me go with one arm, my head and shoulders were shoved against the tree.  
The ridges in the wet trunk were damn uncomfortable, my head turned as far as it could go, I tried to glimpse her - " Your dick is so big Piper.., I... " - my piping voice fainted as she came into my vision.  
She leant close, licking my face - " You..? Are you scared, little bunny? "  
\- " Mhmmm.. " - I mewled, still pinned in place.  
\- " _You should do exactly what I say then..._ So arch your back, and push your ass out! "  
I did but she pulled on my hip anyway, slapping my ass so hard I let out a shriek. Her deep, satisfied moan was weirdly arousing, despite the acute burning sensation. She pushed down on my back, hugging the trunk was uncomfortable as hell, but I had no choice, I lowered, setting my legs into a small stride. My heart was pounding so hard I took note of it even amidst everything else, cold shivers and waves of warmth were skittering across me at the same time. I uttered a few weak words while she forced me into position, but none of them proved enough to put a dent in her efforts.

Then, I lost my breath temporarily as I felt the tip of her hardness on my pussy lips, rubbing up and down. My back arched by itself even more, I grabbed the bark harder yet... moaning at the same time as she did. I can't lie, the anticipation was making me crazy. The voices demanding I escape fell away, I wanted this. I wanted to become one with her, for real this time.  
Time stopped as she pushed into me. In that moment I've finally transcended the rain, the rough bark half my face was pressed against, actually the entire tree scenario, everything. Her dick felt so huge, my arm flew back instantly to try and slow her down. Next I inadvertently tried to escape, but the trunk was in the way so that ended quickly. She was holding my hips, slowly boring into me. I heard her super girly moan, I sensed a little affectation in those but I've gathered already she only uttered them when something felt really, really amazing for her.  
Mumbling incoherent things, I was consumed by the sensations I felt. Every one of my heartbeats initiated a pulse, echoing off my burning center. It was literally burning, stretched out, as if I could feel every vein, every detail of her rock hard cock inside me. Lifting up some more I felt her arm envelop me again, her head arriving next to mine, but she didn't need to tell me anything, I kept my back arched, my hips tipped, pushing my loins into her.

\- " You feel so.. fhuucking amazing bunny... " - she husked between two moans, then nipped at my neck.  
Her thrusts were so slow, but.. substantial, going deeper with each one. I couldn't see her, yet I felt her with every fiber of my body as we moved in sync. My leg started to twitch uncontrollably as she pushed into me all the way. I think I had a miniature orgasm if there's such a thing, the painful yet incredible pleasures exploding from my pussy were too intense to handle. I don't know when, but she took her shirt off, since I could feel her tits on my back, finally skin touching skin across most of our bodies.  
Piper plunged into me all the way again and again, getting faster and faster, her thursts were so powerful, crushing me to the tree each and every time.  
\- " Piper..! " - I uttered a few times, swooning, my brain shorted out..  
She held me in place, but I had every muscle in my legs tightened anyway, pushing against her. I felt so incredibly deep inside me, stretching my entrance, that rock hard, scorching hot cock ravaging me. Leant onto me, her face was next to time, sometimes licking, sometimes nipping, but constantly heaving and moaning into my ear, her pleasures resonating through every thrust. I forgot how amazing it felt to make someone throb, moan and growl in ecstasy with my body. She turned faster and faster, gasping for every breath just like me, assuming such an exhilirating pace...  
\- " You're so wet bunny... " - she mewled, following it up with her high pitched, cute moans - " Ahh.. Kathryn..! " - hearing my name instead of bunny this or bunny that had such a profound effect, I couldn't take anymore, my legs twitched and I couldn't keep up, all strength vanishing from my muscles, getting smashed into the tree on the very next thrust. I let out a shriek again from the pain, then I heard her annoyed growl as she grabbed me properly, pinning me onto her cock.  
My legs got slammed together, an arm around my shoulders and one at the hip I felt as if I was folded into a tight little package, her ramming never stopping. Now I could feel her massive hardness squeeze between my thighs, as her thrusts shook my entire body, her crotch slamming into my butt. The sounds we were making.., the roughness of her sheer strength, the incredible pleasures from my center, my entire pussy felt as if it was on fire, it was all too much... I came.., so hard!  
Screaming loud, then the feeling took over, rendering me mute and basically paralysed for a few moments... she never stopped. She never fucking stopped, once I could breath again I kept crying her name as my orgasm just went on and on. Just as I would've literally died, she pulled out, I felt her cock go up between my buttcheeks, letting go of me at the same time. I fell against the tree, my legs still shaking I couldn't stay up, thankfully she held onto my hip with her steel grip, pumping her hot splurts all over my back. I had time to heave for air, while she kept bumping into me before I felt each squirt, I could feel her other hand viciously jerking herself, the knuckle protection scraping against my butt... Her groans were so fervent, and she came so fucking much, ropes upon ropes of her hot cream splashing on me, I wished I could've seen it, licked it..  
Suddenly she tore me away from the tree, spinning me around. She didn't have to force me down, I fell to my knees quite automatically, still mostly numbed by the earthshattering orgasm, its waves still echoing within. Guiding my head with a firm grip in my hair, she put her dick in my face with the other, her hips, every muscle I could feel convulsing. I wrapped my hands around her cock as it still twitched around, pumping, more and more cum oozing out. Every time I licked or suckled the tip I could see that finely toned body shudder above me, so mesmerizing from this angle, her toned abs, her perfect little boobs lifting and sinking... She flung her wet hair to one side as if reading my mind, so I could see her eyes glinting in the soft glow of the shrooms.. see the way her brows curled as she was feeling it, her mouth left a little open, only the tip of her tongue showing...  
Once again she was dominating me, making me lick off and suckle her cum.., I detected a distinct taste on her meaty cock.., _mine_. My hand instantly traveled to my reposing wetness, I wanted her back there so bad already. Didn't take long for the knot in my stomach to form again, whenever I wrapped my lips around her cock, she was already shoving it into my throat.. I fared a lot better now since she wasn't as hard as a reinforced tritanium pipe, but it was way too thick to go down in the back. I was trying to keep up, I could fit so much of her, but I was overwhelmed, choking, gagging fairly quickly...

\- " Come on! " - she complained.., I tried to reply but I was muted right away.  
With a hand planted firmly on the back of my head she was directly controlling what was happening, no matter how much I would work against her.. Piper was really rough, allowing me moments of respite and a breath, only to shove mercilessly into me once more. She also got diamond hard again in under minute, making this a bit more painful and a lot hotter... My limit was approaching, and eventually I moaned, using all my strength to push myself away from her, turn out of the way, coughing and heaving.  
I heard her giggle, which was both revolting and strangely alluring at the same time. She caressed my face gently, only to try and start again in the next second. I dodged to the other direction, coughing still...  
\- " Piper..! " - I managed, swallowing and heaving uncontrollably.  
Earning another slap my head turned with it, uttering a half-swallowed scream. The piercing pain was refreshing in a strange way. Next she pulled my flinching face back to her cock, I gazed up at her despite the tears in my eyes, to see her menacing grin. Pulled back up and pinned against the tree again, I felt a cocktail of emotions striking a balance between fear and carnal love... I knew she could do whatever she wanted, those shapely arms holding me in place were so much stronger than mine.  
\- " Fucked up little bunny... " - she breathed, kissing me, that perfect, soft, warm and utterly wet kiss.., pulling away only to look me down and up, up and down repeatedly, our breathing constantly providing this hot, exhilirated ambiance, her iron grip making me whine faintly. Then she caressed my cheek, her eyes locked in mine - " You are so perfect Kathryn.. so fuckin' perfect... "

The making-out resumed, forcing all my doubts and discomfort away.., as I've felt so appreciated. Maybe I was kidding myself but I've felt so much emotion in her kisses, in her glances between them.  
My mind was constantly trying to figure out ways to become horizontal on this tree, but I hated all of them. The branches fanned out so densely the first spot where we would've had a remote chance to fall through was meters away from the trunk, however they did not form a nice bed at all. As it turned out, they didn't need to. Piper adjusted her stride, so her crotch would be a little lower than mine, even despite those long and shapely legs of hers, and I tiptoed. She spat a long streak of saliva onto her cock, smearing it around. Can't be sure.., but if my ex-fiancé did that, I'd probably have kicked him out of the bed, yet when Piper did it was one of the hottest things ever. Either way, ~Is she gonna fuck me just like this?!~ I wondered. Guess everything is possible with the right equipment.

\- " Piper... " - that deeply penetrating stare as she rubbed my wetness with the tip of her hardness had me utter my most piping moans..  
\- " You want more, right bunny? "  
\- " Mhhmm... "  
\- " You want my girl cock..? "  
\- " Yes! "  
She smooched such a wonderfull kiss on my lips before shoving her dick in me... The outer world vanished again, I closed my eyes, giving myself over to the feelings, how that scalding hot cock stretched my entrance, filling me up so absolutely. My hip adjusted by itself to achieve the perfect position, my shoulders leaning against the trunk, my hands on her body, twitching uncrontrollably as she penetrated me deeper and deeper. Piper's so damn athletic, doing this liquidlike movement with her legs and pelvis, the resulting slow, long strokes with her throbbing hard cock were absolutely mindblowing..

However, the pure physicality wasn't enough, she put her hands on either side of my head, her thumbs on my face, my eyes snapped open, my gaze locked forward, mere inches from her mirrored glare.  
\- " Kathryn.. " - there it was again, that girly piping voice...  
\- " Piper... " - staring in her eyes as the slight pain, the friction turned into a vortex of pleasure.., I felt.. complete.  
Turning ever faster and faster I was rendered catatonic, I lost my ability to even moan, it was simply too much. Especially how she didn't slow down or stop, or even just miss the rythm. Every thrust squeezed me against the tree, my entire body rocking with it. My pleasures didn't derive solely from my crotch, they were coming from everywhere...

\- " Pip.. ... mhmm.. ... yes..! " - I was heaving in short bursts, completely swallowed by the crazy awesome, burning sensations between them, her gaze constantly on me, her eyes narrowing from time to time, a lick at my lips here and there...  
Without much warning she leaned down and pulled up one of my knees. I like to think I was pretty bendy.., but I've just been treated for contusions all over me. I have to say, the pain was in my mind for an entire nanosecond before I completely forgot about it. Tiptoeing on my remaining leg and propped by her strong arms I never felt threatened by falling.  
This shifted pose gave her much better access, her thrusts were reaching so super deep... So powerful, as if she was trying to fuck me into the damn tree. Another uncomfortable thing I completely failed to give a single damn about...  
I put a hand somewhere on her hip, trying to keep her within my bounds. She was hitting places that were never hit before, all the brand new sensations caused by these deep thrusts were driving me crazy... The ripples caused by the ridge along the tip of that throbbing cock were much too mindblowing. Not to mention the noises, the rough, almost violent thrusts literally fucking me into the tree... It just felt better and better, couldn't remember a time when I was so wet. My inarticulate piping moans became nearly constant, so close to my release again.  
\- " Yeah.. " - she was loosing her breath too.. - " Come for me bunny... " - oh.., as if she needed to tell me - " Come for me Kathryn..! "  
I did. I came so fucking hard... She kept up her vicious ramming all the way through and then some, I felt such an extreme bliss, reinforced every nanosecond, my nervous system lost coherence, my arms were moving, touching her at random spots - I think - my legs twitching uncontrollably.., remaining upright only thanks to her.  
\- " _Ahh..fffhh.. PIPER!_ " - I cried out, finally taking an enormous breath.  
Her next thrust went sooo deep, as she slowed to those sensational, long ones... Just before I'd have literally croaked.. I was still cumming, trying to hug, keep her close while my body squirmed widly. Once my perceptions crept back I could hear her giggling quietly, smooching such warm kisses wherever she could reach me.  
\- " Piper.. " - I was mewling many incoherent things, among which sometimes I could get her name right. She never stopped driving that rock hard cock in and out of me, while hovering her face close to mine, heaving together.  
\- " I love the way you cum bunny... " -_ ~ I love the way you fuck me ~_ \- " You've gotten so fucking wet.. " - she put my leg down, turning me toward the tree, reentering me from behind.. - " You're amazing Kathryn... "

Oh.. Piper.. she already made my pussy and my pleasure centers melt away, now she had to go for my heart too... I wanted to reply, but suddenly all I was capable of producing was some random high pitched mumbling. She kept suckling on my neck, plowing into me...  
\- " Piper... " - I was still recovering.. - " I need a second... "  
\- " Nuh-huh... " - her face buried into my hair, she moaned in my ear - " Nuh-huh bunny... "  
Settling into a moderate pace she just kept plowing me, sometimes breathing, sometimes nipping, sometimes licking into my neck. It felt so cute, and so overwhelmingly arousing how she couldn't stop taking me... Her hands were still pinning me, roughly constricting my movements and squeezing my tits. The inclination to complain vanished, the intense pleasures were just too good.  
Suddenly she slowed down, biting me harder than before, mewling for me. Her cock stuck deep into me, all movements ceased. She was obviously trying to prevent Mr. Premature Ejaculation man from showing up again, which made me giggle, sending this hot rush through me.. I tried to hug her better, but it was mostly impossible from this position, but our bodies connected on such a large surface anyway, I could feel the echo of her heartbeat fighting mine.  
\- " Get down there bunny.. " - she called out eventually, leaning away - " Bend over... "  
I did, but...  
\- " Lower.. lower... " - she kept pushing my back down until it was but horizontal. I had nothing comfortable to lean onto, I could only grab the trunk, sort of prop myself against it, but I (much) more than had the enthusiasm to make this work.  
I felt her push her dick between my buttcheeks, a faint whimper added to her breaths... A part of me wanted to scream, beg her to fuck me already, but I guess I was still to well-mannered to voice these crazy tendencies...  
\- " Arch your back bunny, push your pussy out.. " - I was pushing it out, tiptoeing, everything, just fuck me already..!  
She started to grope my ass, I looked back at her as much as I could twist my neck, but I soon gripped the tree even tighter and moaned as her squeezing became painfully strong, followed by a few thundering slaps.  
\- " Such a perfect ass.. " - that made me kind of forgive her. As I twisted my face her way again, the only utterings leaving my mouth were the sluttiest whimpers. I caught her menacing grin, even her silhouette drove me wild as she was aiming her cock...

That moment just before she entered me was always so magical, the sensations of that hot meat rubbing against my pussy, the way it tensed me up, caused my breath to pause.. Then she pushes into me, all my neural pathways fire and the world makes sense for but a fleeting moment.  
Piper let me go at first, our only connection through the genitals. Every single thrust shoving me into that damn tree. Despite the rain and my heavy gasps I could still hear all her little moans, the lewd noises of sex.., most importantly feel every twitch of her hardness inside me. Eventually she grabbed my hips, constantly ramming into me, harder and harder, shifting her position little by little. I no longer had the strength to look back at her, it felt like she wanted to climb on top of me somehow, fuck me even deeper. I couldn't believe how amazing it felt, she was hitting the perfect spot, relentlessly... When she grabbed my hair I lost it, this feeling of being dominated, how she was giving her all to me..  
Then it's just one big orgasmic blur... The scope quite limited by the venue, or lack thereof, I was pulled back up straight, bent over again, my legs closed, opened, picked up, the only constant: her cock ramming me from behind. Eventually I ended up facing away from the tree, her leaning on it with her back, my arms pinned by my sides, using them to pull me onto her massive hardness. I was in such a constant bliss, my final orgasm totally crept up on me, this incredible maelstorm suddenly releasing from my center, taking over every part of my body within nanoseconds. Crying out, all I could feel was a throbbing, pulsating rush. Piper never stopped, I think I heard a few more vehement moans from her as well, but she never fucking stopped, even though pain was entering the mix, I wanted more.., I wanted to stay alive only to die just a little longer... All strength left my voluntary muscles, my legs were twitching, felt about to fall apart as I was coming down from the incredible high.

Uttering some weak and quiet whimpers I wanted to make her stop, but she didnt, pulling my barely conscious body up and hugging me from behind once again. I let out half a shriek, before Piper's mighty, menacing body enveloping from all sides had me completely overwhelmed. She wasn't going to stop.., she had one arm snaked upward from my side, squeezing a boob, the other across my abdomen, locking me completely in place, ravaging my nether region... It was so loud, how her crotch constantly slapped into my ass. Her cock felt even harder than before if that's possible, painful, there were no moans, I could barely hear her breathing, then even that stopped as she bit my neck. Flight or fight instincts firing I wanted to escape, but there was nothing I could do, just whimper in the highest pitch I've ever heard myself.  
\- " Kathryn..! " - she mewled at first, turning into a loud, deep growl...  
Her face pulled away, heaving, as her release finally came.. Her thrusts slowed, with the pain and the suffocating paralysis leaving my body I could feel her cock throbbing, twitching, I swear I could feel the cum pumping through it... I had my own sensational euphoria, as if the afterglow of my orgasm would've only hit me now. The way she held me, every muscle spasming, hugging and pressing into me with all her strength, it was profound, the pleasures completely overwhelming. Her orgasm lasted so long, we were throbbing in sync, I felt one with Piper, completely, and it was amazing.

Calming down finally, her cock got just a little softer inside me, finally allowing my pussy some respite, her grip on me waivered, I heard her panting, smooching soft and warm kisses on my cheek, my neck. We stayed like that for a while, I felt her racing heartbeat, the eery sensation of her warm creamy cum oozing from my pussy..  
\- " Kathryn... " - she breathed eventually, mewling as her softened cock plomped out of me, I could turn a little to face her, she didn't say anything more, just smooched me softly on the lips, keeping our heads together for a few seconds, then collapsed, her back to the trunk, and I followed into her lap the next moment.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~12~ :: The Harvesters_


	12. The Harvesters

**Chapter ~12~ :: The Harvesters**

**.**

If I slept, it was a wink. It seemed I did skip over dawn though. The rain stopped, only quiet drips could be heard from all the leaves. I was leaned against the trunk, the first thing I saw was Piper lying across quite a few branches. They weren't exactly level, well not from up close anyway, couldn't imagine the way her body laid there to be comfortable. She was out like a light, though. I tried to think, I guess. That's the logical thing to do right? To think about what you did last night? Or rather a few hours ago? I was so sore, that's all I could think about.

Other than that, my mind just kept defaulting, resetting itself. Piper's shorts were still wide open, but her junk was hidden in her panties... I guess I couldn't believe this still. By 'this' I mean everything from the moment we've left Voyager's shuttlebay up to present moments. What I've found between her legs... what I did with it. Voyager... There was this crushing anxiety lurking around me, pouncing from time to time, suffocating my mind in a dark void every single time. 'What would I write in my report?' wasn't the point anymore. 'How would my life go on?' that was the question. Some people already call less than what happened rape. Yet I could just sit here, look at her, the thought going through my head repeatedly and.., my mouth was watering... I think this all was just too much for my head to process, it didn't want to. I've stopped planning that time in our pond, when I decided to stick my tongue in her mouth and touch her all over. I think that was still the case, no planning, no reviewing, just going with the flow.

How would I captain the ship again, with her on it? What's gonna happen when we go back to Voyager anyway? Will she just go back to her friends? Hannah? Who knows who else? Every part of me was aching, that was reality's way of creeping back into my head. This tree was starting to feel really, really uncomfortable now. I got up slowly, propped on the bark. My joints cracked, every part of me felt heavy. What an amazing way to start off the morning. A potentially... insane day was ahead of us. There isn't a better adjective in the English language for this. What if we meet more aliens? What if they made camp at our camp? What if we get hunted down because they've found their dead? What if suddenly we are engulfed in blue transporter beams? I realised that whatever happens today, the day after, or a freakin' week after this, those blue transporter beams can not come at a good time.

I looked at Piper. Kind of on her back, her arms stretched out, her long legs slightly bent. Her firm, perky tits raising and sinking slowly... She was so sexy... I was afraid of her,_ I think_. Not in a simple, straightforward way, but the screwed up way. When this little apprehension translates into even more attraction. Captain and Ensign or not, I didn't feel like I had any control over her. Neither in the way of our more... erotic activities, nor Starfleet things, like our business with our camp, our shuttle, or the Prime Directive. I wouldn't admit this to myself, but it was obvious, this was what drew me to her so much. _The unknown_. In nearly 6 years I've gotten much too used to ordering people around, being at the top of the food chain. I was just a girl, lost in a jungle here, with a bigger and stronger girl. While I enjoyed the captain role, this girl role was... _awesome_.

After a bit of puzzled confusion, I've realised there was the massive, fallen trunk of a millenia old tree on the other side of our 'nest', essentially providing a stairway down to the ground. Just when I was starting to think Piper _flew_ up here with an unconscious me in her arms. Everything was muddy and wet again, unsurprisingly. I brought the medical kit down with me, but as I knelt down and opened it I realised I didn't know what I would do with it. What's the prescription for a sore pussy? I stood back up, glancing around in silence, my eyes finding things to focus on in the lush jungle, lest I would try to think about what was happening with me again.  
Eventually the quiet contemplation was broken, I heard Piper shuffle through the leaves, prompting me to turn around. She slowed down, looking at me with those dark, mysterious eyes. Her lips curved into a smile, and then mine too.

\- " How's the hottest captain in Starfleet doing? "  
That surprised me a little, but I liked it. I liked it a lot. She approached me, and without much further she kissed me. Gentle and sweet, while grabbing my ass, her other hand on the small of my back, the tip of her fingers finding their way under my belt. This felt so perfect I wanted to cry. What an amazing way to wake up, instead of ordering a coffee from the replicator in empty quarters, sad and alone. Furthermore, I was afraid she would be rough, bite me or something, essentially a continuation of last night's Piper. It was still there of course, nearly devouring me as she pressed our bodies together, burning with passion, but toned down sufficiently. I was melting away, I didn't want these long.. very long moments to end. When they did and she straightened up, I pushed my forehead into her...

\- " Better now... " - I whispered, carding into my hair, caressing gently she made me look up at her again. I thought she enjoyed this.. that grin on her luscious glistening lips was a dead giveaway. Her Captain in her arms, no pips and no reservations. No calling things 'mistakes'. In those moments, I enjoyed it too.  
\- " All the instant coffee is at the camp, so let's go, huh?! "  
\- " Mhmm.. " - I nodded.  
She smooched me, running her hand down my body in the most inappropriate way possible, her fingers sending sparks of electricity all the way through me, my heart fluttering in return... Then we were off, into the wilderness.

**« std:: endl;**

Piper lead the way, cutting a straight route to the creek, then we followed that to our waterfall. We talked about inconsequential things, like the jungle and its inhabitants. Not the 'intelligent' bunch of course, the wildlife. Once we were close enough for me to actually recognise the surroundings, the build up in me finally became strong enough to utter the question I should've already asked underneath our nested tree.  
\- " How are you feeling, by the way? "  
\- " Hmm? " - she turned back, her brow up. I timed my question perfectly, she was happily skipping along the waterway, right after something funny she said, it made no sense to inquire about her feelings when she obviously felt wonderful.  
\- " You know... "  
Piper stopped, waiting for me. I couldn't resist walking into her embrace, snaking my arm around her automatically. The gesture came so naturally, even though I was apprehensive about her answer.  
\- " Oh... " - she glanced away for a moment, carding her hair - " Well I have other things to worry about, huh? " - she bit her lip, her eyes boring into mine.

That was still the end all be all expression for me, I found it absolutely irresistible. We kissed, or rather started kissing, because it lasted a while. My arms moved over her shoulders, I loved how tall and strong she was, I could've spent the entire day just clinging to her. The notion of love still weirded me out, but on some level I was aware how extremely infatuated I was actually becoming. I didn't care though, all my mind could focus on was what an enormous idiot I've been to miss out on this, this intimacy, its primal pleasures until now. Forget unwritten rules, forget regulations, forget captaincy. At the end of it all I was still.., just a person. My mission was taking my crew home, not being a vulcan while doing it.

I felt so recharged, my body still ached here and there, the extreme humidity was suffocating. Nevertheless, Piper didn't let go of my hand as we started walking again, and that put everything else out of focus.  
There was no silence in a jungle like this, ever, but I still heard something as we approached, Piper did too, because she turned into a statue. Inadvertently I leaned closer to her, as she protectively extended her arm over me. There it was again, the noise. Something, or someone, was messing around with our stuff. That's what it sounded like, something plastic, or otherwise artificial knocking on rock. It was faint, must've come from the pond's shore. We were up by our tree, still a few meters away from it.

Piper motioned for me to stay put, leaning down and sneaking to the edge. I didn't know what she saw or what happened, but...  
\- " Oh shit! " - she exclaimed, turning back toward me.  
\- " What?! " - she was already loud, so my question couldn't have ruined things further. I had this terrible gripping sensation in my throat suddenly. What would Piper be 'oh shit' about? Her expression was frightened as well.

Without stopping she ran back to me, circling around to my behind, I was standing in stride, only following her with my head until I could, she obviously wasn't running away. The next thing I know, her head is between my legs, lifting me up on her shoulders.  
\- " Grab the tent! " - she shouted, as we started moving toward the tree.  
I nearly fell off, had to focus on staying on her, she was strong as a bull! This was a screwed up way to get to the tent, it would've been closer from the other side of the trunk, where our path up was originally, but as she got to the edge with me on top of her and I looked down, it only took a nanosecond for me to understand the hurry. Our evening visitor.

One glance was enough, a large, dark thing moving seamlessly could only be one thing.  
\- " Do you have it?! " - she asked, we were both leaning forward, my arms stretched out.  
\- " Y.. " - I only got to the first letter when I've already felt her pushing me off her shoulders, putting me even higher than before. I lost my balance, lurching forward, thankfully that was exactly what I needed to actually reach the edge of the tent. I hung on for dear life, as she let me go, my weight flinging toward it.  
I heard a growl from close by, and Piper gasping. I couldn't look at all, my arms stretched by my head on either side. The beast then growled from even closer, Piper cursing. Splashes were the next noise, she must've been by the edge where the water flowed down into our pond. It must've been the gallon of adrenaline releasing into my system, but I pulled myself up into the tent, nearly flying headfirst into it. Then I heard a huge splash, likely Piper jumping into the pond. The next snarly growl from the animal was so loud I nearly shit myself. I had this incredible fright that it was gonna eat me now, my ass and legs still hanging out. Again, don't ask me how, but I was in that tent faster than I ever thought possible. Immediately turning to my back I looked at the opening, but all I saw was the tree bark. More splishy splashly noises came, more growls. Piper!

I got on all fours, crawling to the corner furthest from the tree, tearing the flaps open, glancing outside. Piper was in a mad dash, still in the water, swimming to the shore. I couldn't see where that thing was, but it was safe bet it was on its way toward her. My lungs turned into a block of burning ice, if that even makes sense, I couldn't breath, couldn't.. do anything, just stare. She got out of the water, breaking for the rope we hung up as the vertical way to the tent. She ran into and grabbed it with such force that it swung up with her momentum, narrowly getting her out of the way of the beast, who missed her and landed several meters beyond, growling with primal anger. I couldn't see squat, so I bopped my head back into the tent, shoving everything we had on this end out of the way, and opening the zipper.

Piper swung the other way in the meantime, the animal waiting, its tail in a straight line, staring at her.  
\- " PIPER! " - I cried out, I could see it coming. The beast pounced, she pulled her legs up, but it reached her anyway.  
I couldn't see the strike, but even the direction of the swing changed, Piper screamed out loud, somehow staying on the rope. It fell out of my filed of vision, as she kept pulling herself up, constantly whimpering. My eyes filled with tears, it was as if my heart was getting sliced up and eviscerated. It jumped again, but missed, or Piper somehow gotten her legs out of the way again, she was very high up by then. Her eyes were squinting, she was hissing and moaning, she was obviously hurt, again. I watched her climb for a few moments, finally realising that rope was leading to the position on the branch where our tent should've been, not where it actually was. I reached out toward the pulley of our rope system, pulling the first one that I could grab. The tent started to move _the wrong fucking way obviously_, but on the second try was I was successful.

Infused with adrenaline I got the tent there just as she reached the top. I was beside myself, nothing I saw really registered, but I remember Piper trying to lift her legs up and into the tent, flinching and whimpering before the last inches, letting her body go, swinging left and right. I thought she would fall, my heart skipped so many beats so many times it's a wonder I didn't die. I put my arms forward, telling her something. She grabbed my hand, essentially throwing herself into the tent in the next second. I have no idea how, but I pulled her in, over myself.

I'm sure the animal was very vocal, but I didn't care about any of that, we had to be safe in here. I got out from under her, gasping as I could finally see her injury. This time the clawed paw "_nicked_" her by the hip, the lacerations starting above her belt, on her side... I guess the starting point was on the small of her back, near the center, the rips went down and outward, across her belt, which stayed mostly intact, then tearing her shorts on her butt cheek. She had a gadget there, it was no longer in its holster, but at least that protected her, leaving only one bloody wound on her ass, instead of a continuation of the three she had over her belt.  
She heaved, biting into the sheets, moaning loudly... - " FuUUuck... " - she hissed right after, her face a clear reflection of the extreme pain she must've felt. Twisting her body to look, the machete across her back was in the way, she tore it away so vehemently she nearly sliced me in half.

Her entire leg was bloody, blood flowing from every single wound, the shorts and now the tent too getting sprayed. Our first night all over again, _I wanted to scream and cry and get the FUCK OFF THIS PLANET right in that instant._ Forget my earlier concerns, this was the perfect moment for the Goddamn transporter beams! Of course they didn't come, transport was likely impossible here, just like our_ BLOODY PHASERS COULDN'T FIRE!_ If we had them NONE of this would've ever happened!  
Destroying everything around me wasn't going to yield anything fruitful however, my command experience was shitty for intimacy and all related issues, but good for one thing, objectivity and focus in the face of extreme adversity. One of the things I shoved out of the way earlier was my small medical kit. Her injuries needed the field triage kit again, so her kit. I blinked once, and I knew where it was. Outside. I heard her drop it after flinging me into the tent. It must've been still there, out on the rock, no more than 6-7 meters from here. All things considered, could have been in the next bloody starsystem it wouldn't have made such a difference.  
I felt the spotlight focus on me. I was up. I had to do something. Prove those four pips belonged on my collar.

\- " Kathryn..! " - she whined, laying on her uninjured side, able to look at me directly. I hated looking into those eyes now, filled with pain and tears.  
\- " Piper.. " - I grabbed a pillow, pushing it onto her wound.  
She hissed, my heart breaking in tandem. There was nothing in my kit to adequately help her. It would take her a long time to die like this, but I had to do something.  
\- " I'm gonna get your kit. "  
\- " I dropped it outside.., it's... "  
\- " I know, I know where it is. "  
Piper put her hand on the pillow, pushing down, didn't have to tell her what to do. I crawled to the trunk's side, peeking out. The beast was growling below us, circling around, while up on the rock, there was the dark medical box-backpack-whatever. Noticing me, that damn thing seemed to catch his second wind. I immediately pulled the tent closer to that end again, meanwhile the animal made its way up.

\- " You can't go out there, that thing.. "  
\- " Shh... " - I turned back, putting a hand on her cheek - " You need the kit. "  
\- " I'll live.., just.. "  
\- " We need the gel! " - I raised my voice - " I could sit on that pillow, you'd still bleed out, only slower! "  
Not very nice things to say, but I knew damn well I was right. I knew _she knew_ too.  
\- " Kathryn.. "  
The animal grabbed my attention, as I grabbed the machete. It was by the tree, where we had our wedges planted, mere meters from me. This was it. The idea was crystal clear in my head. I planted one hand by the edge, the other on the handle of the sword, the tip of the blade on the edge too. Leaning close to the opening, I bared my teeth, just like it did his.

\- " Come on! " - I heaved - " COME ON! " - shouting, I heard Piper whimper in the back, but I was hell bent on killing this thing. All I needed was for it to jump.  
\- " I know you can jump, now come on! "  
It did.  
I wish I could say I aimed the machete, that time slowed down and I was all cool-like and deadly and precise. In truth I just flinched backwards, so far my head bumped into the 'ceiling', I think I even jumped somehow, but I did shove the machete forward into the opening. It was knocked out of my hand too, so I knew I struck. Heard it whimper too.

The entire tent was swinging wildly from the hit, I thought we would fall off. That thing was a powerhouse, but it was way too big to make it inside, falling to the ground. I could hear the thump, the loud cluttering of the blade on the rock. We were easily 6-7 meters above ground, that's a big fall. The machete did hit it somewhere. I didn't have time to check, or anything like that. It was now or never, I either made enough time, or it's eating me.  
I crawled out of the tent, frankly no idea how, I think if the situation was normal I would have fallen and broke my back right there, but this way I was desperate enough to be completely committed to the crazy bullshit in my head, throwing myself hard enough against all odds to be able to mount the wedges and stabilize myself.

I didn't check for the animal, it was very loud though, mewing in a piercing and messed up way, still far away from me. I dashed 'round the trunk, grabbing the medical kit, throwing it on my back, and returning immediately. Once back at the wedges, I glanced down, only to have my heart stop for a moment again. It was getting up, the machete was bloody, a small pool of the dark stuff on the rock of the shoreline. In spite of that, it was back on all fours, glaring up at me. Fuck.  
It started to move, and I knew it would be up there with me in just a few moments. I remembered, kind of, how Piper used to enter the tent, so I've decided these few moments would have to be enough for me to do the same. Grabbing only a few wedges, I jumped up, catching the branches by the tent, pulling my legs up and rolling in. I let go too late or something, ending up almost falling right back out, since not enough of me landed in the tent, most of my torso and therefore, weight, remaining on the outside. There was a limit to how much my back could bend, so this hurt like hell, the medical kit started to fall off me too.

Through extreme luck I was able to catch the strap, at the same time as Piper grabbed my legs. Next I felt her hand on the button of my shorts, grabbing the fabric and pulling. I have no idea how was she so strong, but she pulled me in. I guess roughly the same amount of adrenaline must've been at work in both of us. By the time the beast got up to the tree, I was on all fours again, ripping the medical kit inside, and zipping the tent shut, paying a passing glance to the predator.  
\- " You're crazy... " - Piper whispered, moaning and hissing the next second.

I carded the hair out of her face, permitting myself a single deep breath, before crawling backwards and setting up shop by her injuries. Piper was all wet thanks to the dip in the pond, now the tent was all wet, my muddy footprints everywhere inside, it was a damn mess. I don't know what the animal was doing outside, but it kept roaring and growling while doing it.  
\- " Have to take this off... " - I removed the blood soaked pillow, grabbing Piper's shorts.  
She reached under her belly, undoing the button and zipper, allowing me to pull it off. I tried not to do it across her wound, but it was tight to begin with, and soaked completely, so that wasn't happening. She whimpered, eating the other pillow. I tried to be more delicate with the underwear, it was less sturdy at least. God, these wounds didn't look any better than the ones on her stomach.

\- " It's gonna be the gel again... " - I flipped the kit open, my hands finding the right instrument much too fast for comfort. I could've imagined living my whole life never using this thing.  
\- " Mhmm... " - she moaned into the pillow.  
\- " Next time you jump, no coming back for me! "  
\- " Of course Cap...nnghhh " - her sarcastic tone was interrupted by the sonic atomiser - " jsst patch me up, huh?! "  
\- " I'm serious Piper, you could've been killed! "  
\- " If I leave you there you could've been killed! "  
\- " Better me than you! "  
\- " Bullshit! " - she pushed her shoulders up, twisting her neck to glance at me - " Just do the fu... " - her words continued as a loud growl, as I started dozing the gel. It was hot and fuming, my stomach churned just looking at the way it was 'helping' her.

The conversation died out, I didn't have the focus and the time to continue, and when Piper spoke, she whispered in a tongue I didn't understand. I could treat her 'perfectly' again. Maybe I should use the word 'adequately' instead, but then again a child could've managed this. Kinda like a colouring book, only the surface you needed to fill were bloody crevices in flesh, and the pencil was a powerful torturing device. The stapler invoked a different kind of high-pitch whimpers from her. My eyes were filled with tears, I was up to a light year above my head with Piper risking her life because we were everything but proper Starfleet officers.  
\- " I'm serious Piper, you're not going to... "  
\- " Shut up..! "  
I huffed and puffed in anger -" I SAID, ... " - out of the blue, she stretched her arm toward me, catching me by my ear, shoving me down next to her in the bed. My elbow nicked the corner of the medical kit, flinging its contents all over both us as I crashed. My face landed in front of hers, those otherworldly eyes glaring at me.  
\- " Shut up... " - she repeated in a faint whisper.

I knew what she meant, and I couldn't reply, only a gasp, my eyes filling with moisture yet again.  
She barely needed to move that hand to caress my cheek - " I got you, huh? " - she swallowed, gritting her teeth, couldn't imagine the pain she must've been in - " I'm getting you back to Voyager if that's the last thing I do! "  
\- " Piper.. " - I snivelled...  
\- " There's no order you can issue, threat you might levy, rhetorical ploy, invocation, supplication or whatever the fuck that will convince me otherwise... " - she inched her face close to mine - " Got that?! "  
I nodded, closing the gap between us and kissed her lips gingerly, resuming to glare into those pitch dark globes. We remained like that for a few seconds.  
\- " Now shoot every ccs of painkillers we have left into my butt before I do something we'd both regret... "

Chuckling weakly, I wiped my tears away as I got up, finding the hypospray somewhere between us. Loaded the final local anaesthetic canister, injecting her amply around the freshly sealed wounds. Just as there would have been a moment to breath, the beast growled again. Except, it was incredibly loud this time, and the entire tent shuddered. That's not artistic license, it did. The damn thing was on the branch. I looked at Piper first, then upward, just as she did, but leaning away from the 'ceiling', lest it decides to slap it and my face with it. _~There is nothing it can do to hurt us..~_ I told myself, zipping it shut on the other end too, just to be on the safe side. The flaps that I've opened only revealed see-through segments, not actual holes. We couldn't see anything, just hear its mewing roars. The machete was 6 meters below us, making me look at Piper for some reassurance. I was done being the hero, I really, really wanted to catch a break.

Suddenly, thundering blows sounded. I flinched, scared shitless. They came from the ground, somewhat away perhaps. Bone-cringing plomps from on top of us, deep, low guttural whimpers. Then a huge crash on Piper's side, a dark shade knocking us into a swing, followed by a thud and a splash. _~What the fuck's just happened?!~_ We were looking at each other, frozen, the tent unevenly rocking from side to side.  
\- " Voyager.. " - Piper whispered after several paralysed moments. I wanted her to be right, but I think even she seriously doubted it.  
The tent was slowing down, I steeled myself to straighten up, looking out the small, rectangular view ports. Those people were not Starfleet. I immediately pulled my face away, leaning back toward her, shaking my head.  
\- " Come out, whoever you are! " - a sharp, very loud voice demanded.  
This was not the break I was looking for. Swallowing hard I gazed at Piper. I felt like I was about to faint, give up and just fade away.  
\- " Those must've been firearms, chemically propelled bullets. " - Piper whispered to me.  
I nodded - " They have some rugged uniforms on, all of them armed. "  
\- " _The harvesters are no Gods after all._ "

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~13~ :: The Prime Directive_


	13. The Prime Directive

_Author's Note :: Turning darker and harsher for a while._

**Chapter ~13~ :: The Prime Directive**

**.**

The mercenary-types from outside shouted again. I sighed bitterly, looking over Piper. Just what we needed, my mind went blank with anger again, I had to force myself to think rationally.  
\- " Can you climb out? "  
Her face shifted, looking at me in disbelief - " We ain't gonna surrender, _are we_? "  
\- " What do you suggest we do? "  
\- " I don't know! " - our 'yells' were in whispers - " They _can't know_ there's two of us, I'll go alone. "  
\- " No, I'm.. "  
\- " Captain, they probably... "

Piper was interrupted by several shots, fired at the tree by the sounds of it. I was ready to argue with her, until that point.  
\- " COME OUT! NOW! " - they bellowed from outside. We had no time to figure this out. My heart racing, I started crawling to the flap.  
\- " Follow me out. " - I told her in no unclear terms, pulling the zipper down.

While we climbed off the tree, two of them moved up, barking a few more warm notions. They were about the same size us, well taller than me, but yeah. Their skin had this hideous deathly pale, slightly blue hue, they were obviously not the same species as the indigenous cavemen we had the pleasure of meeting earlier. Their uniform was like that of the Maquis, sort of rugged and random, but following a common style, which seemed to be gray, matte steel as the main colour, made of something which looked thick and flimsy. I would be sweating in this jungle naked, let alone in that.. crap. They had long sleeves but no pauldrons or any style, no lapels, no nothing, they were born in those clothes and it grew with them by the looks of it.

I judged their heads to be smaller than what one would expect on such bodies. All of them had feline-like yellow eyes, small, squinty. Had no nose to speak of, only two holes in the middle of their face, the ridges around them seemed to vary, they all had metal studs there in different configurations. Maybe I was very negative on account of them aiming guns at us, but they weren't pretty, and didn't seem particularly smart or trustworthy. Villains, the lot of them. The weapons were, as Piper said, firearms with proper barrels and bullets. Maybe they wouldn't disintegrate me, but the hole on the tip seemed large enough to shoot something quite deadly. At least I slapped on my communicator, and it was working.

When I tried to speak, detailing who we were and how we were peaceful, I was silenced by a loud yell, bumped with the butt of a gun, ushered downward. Maybe they would calm down a little upon seeing some cooperation, I went, the thug following closely. I was busy watching my steps, I have no idea what Piper did, but there was an awkward growling shriek, one of them tumbling right past me, rolling down the short hillside. More commotion from behind me, I spun around, only to be butted along by Piper and the other bandit, as they fought and tumbled themselves.

I fell down, but managed to stabilize myself while only almost breaking my elbow. The two of them rolled on the last meter, the alien taking the final hit, the rocky shore with his back, Piper ricocheting further, into the third guy, thus getting knocked down. With all three of them indisposed, she was the first to get up, punching the one she's already met, twice. I don't think the second was even necessary, he was out like a light. The others, not so much, Piper had to face the one they knocked down, while the first guy was also standing up. Time to move.. that all too familiar cold shiver gathered from my extremities in my chest, forming the suffocating pressure signalling the inevitability of my involvement.

My school of martial arts was much more basic than Piper's, focused on self defense. Fights are worse offenders than sex when it comes to not working out the way I imagine it in my head. The first ten seconds of my engagement already lent credence to Piper's earlier critique about Tuvok's sessions, doing this is a lot easier when you can anticipate your enemies movements. I was anticipating them like a natural, only he didn't actually do any of it. He was continually trying to grab me, instead of punching me out so I could attack 'freely', too bad I was hitting like a girl.

Anyway, I'm not sure who put what and where exactly in the painful haze, but one of my kicks landed nicely in the back of his leg, he fell to one knee. Time for the Falcon Punch! I clasped my hands together, striking him across the face. He was expected to fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes, except he didn't. He just got angrier, standing up and coming at me like a bull. While I managed to get out of the way, his randomly flailing arm hit me in the boobs, which hurt so much my tactics for the remainder of this fight reverted to simply avoiding the coming hits. With the inadvertently appearing tears in my eyes I couldn't see much, and in my retreat I tripped on the rocky ground.

At least I managed to set him up in a bad posture, with my last glance I could see Piper pouncing, she punched him so hard he hit the ground before I did. Adrenaline kept my senses going even as my body met the uncomfortable rocks. Piper fell down too, rolling to the side, immediately shifting to spring back up. However, the last guy was faster. Faster, but he didn't seem to be in full control of his faculties, stumbling and canting, but he had a gun.

Next I noticed Piper grabbed one too.., by the time she was upright she had a barrel between her eyes.  
\- " Put it down! " - he threatened as her weapon was only halfway up. As if not hearing him, she kept raising it, although slower.  
\- " PUT! IT! DOWN! " - he bellowed further. I was about to explode from the tension. Piper didn't seem to be affected, finally lifting her weapon up to the alien's face - " You don't even know how to use that! " - they've spent perhaps a few moments glaring at each other, then an ear-splitting bang gave me such a fright I might've actually bounced off the rocks into the air.

I could still hear the cringing crackles and splattering before the sharp ringing in my ear cancelled everything else out. As I opened my eyes, the alien was canting away, his head knocked backwards, a gaping wound on it, covered in blood. He fell to the ground, I kept blinking, the paralysing chill throbbing across my body, my eyes would slowly process more and more of the scene. Piper had been sprayed with blood, streaks of it across the rocks of the shore, ridden with small bits and pieces of... oh God.

\- " Lucky guess, huh? ... _You dumb fuck._ " - Piper slowly lowered the pistol, glaring at it.  
I swallowed hard, trying to force my breathing back to normal. She turned around, stepping by one of the others, aiming the weapon at him.  
\- " No! Stop! " - as if knocked along by some divine intervention, I rose, rushing to her, grabbing her wrists and pushing, bumping into her.  
\- " Get off me! " - she shoved me away roughly, her strength didn't particularly please me in that moment. She raised the gun again.  
\- " You can't just kill them! "  
\- " What do you think they'll want to do to us?! "  
\- " After this?! " - I pointed toward the dead guy.

Piper's face shifted into disbelief, tilting her head, her eyes narrowed - " Oh, so this is _my fault_?! " - she shouted, closing the gap between us - " I'M SORRY I SAVED US! " - she shoved me again.  
I was scared of her, she didn't look anything like the peaceful beauty she was in the morning. Obviously incredibly angry, pushed to the very edge by the previous intermission, she did just overpower two in a fight, had a gun a pointed between her eyes, etc.

\- " You didn't have to shoot him. "  
\- " What was I supposed to do?! _GET SHOT_?! "  
\- " I told you we would surrender! " - I shouted back at her.  
\- " And get beaten, raped or killed?! "  
\- " We don't even know who they are, we.. "  
\- " What do they look like?! " - she puffed, spinning around - " Open your eyes! "  
\- " You had no right to.. "  
\- " I DON'T FUCKING BELIEVE YOU! " - she threw the gun to the ground, stepping in front of me again, rather, towering over me.

\- " Piper... "  
\- " Shut up! " - she grabbed me roughly, leaning closer. I didn't know what she would do.., but I could imagine anything.  
\- " ...this isn't you.., "  
\- " Shut _THE FUCK_ up! " - we were on the last rock by the pond, so she swung me around, switching her hand from my shirt to my neck, using the other to fend off my flustered and weak attempts at freeing myself.  
I wanted to reply, but for a few moments her grip was so crushing no utterance came out.  
\- " Why is it always us, huh?! " - she shook me so hard I whimpered, tears inadvertently flooding my vision. There was nothing but fury in her eyes, veins pressing against her skin. I realized she could kill me if she wanted to, I'd probably have no way to defend myself.  
\- " What.. " - I could barely get a word out.  
\- " Why is it always us, your crew, who has to suffer?! " - she kept taking steps whilst gripping me, I finally tripped, prompting her to shove me to the ground and walk around in a small circle - " Every time we are attacked someone needs to die, or _be horribly fucking burned_ before you give the bloody order to fight back! "

I tried to gather myself, propping to my elbow on the wet and muddy rocks. She was way too quick to spin back in front of me and continue.  
\- " Except! EX-FUCKIN'-CEPT of course when it's us you get to shoot at! " - I guess I must've given her a weird look, my mind couldn't quite keep up with this situation - " Have you forgotten where I work on your fucking ship?! I was scrubbing salt water out of the Delta Flyer's weapon systems for 2 days after you've decided to fire at it, with Paris in it! Oh and how could I forget?! " - she was richly articulating, well mostly throwing her fists around - " I was in phaser maintenance when you fired upon the Equinox, remember that?! Remember that other_ Starfleet ship_ we've found on this side galaxy? _Only to have you destroy it_?! " - she fell back to her knees right next to me, pushing me into the ground - " We were supposed to hate them. We were supposed to love the traitorous damn bastards that are the Maquis, but we were supposed to hate the STARFLEET OFFICERS whose only sin was trying to get home! Lessing told us what you did to him. Hannah was harassed and bullied every single day in engineering, but that's okay. She's _Starfleet_. Starfleet are supposed to suffer and die when Janeway is involved! " - I squirmed around, trying to speak or avoid her, or just something at all.. but it wasn't happening. She grabbed my neck again, leaning in really close - " We could have another Starfleet ship flying off our port bow, BUT YOU MADE US DESTROY THEM! And now you're upset about a random alien who tried to capture us?! HUH?! " - she pointed and glanced at him for a fleeting moment before turning back to me, her eyes blazing with rage - " FUCK YOU! " - she bellowed, putting some distance between us only to pull her arm back and raise her fist.

I closed my eyes and flinched away, every muscle tightening in my body. As if the planet would've stopped turning, for a few seconds I didn't hear, see anything, just waited. However, she only shoved me back to the ground with the hand that was gripping me near my neck. The back of my head thudding on the rock, I hissed, pulling my legs up a little, covering my head with an arm. I didn't dare open my eyes, but I could sense her leaving.

Eventually I glanced around, saw her by the two aliens. Didn't know what she was doing, but it didn't appear to be murdering, more along the lines of searching them. I swallowed hard, replaying everything that's been shouted at me in my head. How would I take control of this situation? Piper was obviously unstable, I remembered what she told me about her condition... making me fear it was no exaggeration. Slowly, I managed to get myself back on my feet, constantly shuddering. While I didn't incur any new injuries, many of my old ones were disturbed, getting shoved around didn't help either, most of my body was hurting. There used to be less apprehension in me when we pick up a Borg energy signature...

\- " What are you doing? "  
She held up a bundle of small plastic.. things. Must've come from the aliens.  
\- " Zip ties. " - oh, she was tying them up. One on their wrist, another on the other, looped together. The same on their ankles, they wouldn't be moving anywhere by the looks of it.  
Getting somewhat closer, I was still at a loss, at least I didn't feel like she wanted to kill me any more, or perhaps that was wishful thinking.

\- " This is the extent of their technology. " - she stood up, holding up a flimsy gadget - " Standard electric equipment, AM radio. " - she threw them into the pond. Fetching the weapons laying around she continued - " Hollow points in the sidearms.. " - her ability to take apart those alien firearms was almost graceful - " High stopping power, deadly, useless in a thick jungle unless you have a clear shot. " - then she grabbed a much bigger one - " Full coat flat tips in the rifles, better I guess. Fully automatic too, unless they are trained how to use these properly we shouldn't be in too deep shit. "  
I certainly wasn't trained how to use those, though. I didn't even understand what she said.  
\- " What do you intend to do? "  
\- " The Prime Directive clearly outlines what we need to do. But I guess you have a better idea. "  
\- " I want to know what's yours. "

\- " These people are not from here. These weapons do not fit these conditions. Anyone from this planet would be clearly aware of that, not to mention they look nothing like the others. Flimsy plastic and electric equipment, it's a wonder they could even land here. They are several centuries behind us, they are hostile, and we have a shuttle down there with two photon torpedoes, phasers, an impulse assembly, a shield generator, alloys and polymers they might never have seen before. " - she rounded them, walking closer to me - "_ Starfleet General Order 01, Suborder 5:_ Sharing or exposing technology with or to a less developed species as part of a trade, as an unintended by-product of an accident or out of dereliction is strictly prohibited. _Suborder 19:_ Every effort must be made to salvage damaged equipment. If this is impossible and there exists a threat of exposure violating the earlier suborders, the equipment must be destroyed instead. _Oh and my favourite.. Suborder 1:_ This directive shall take precedence over all others, no order can rescind it and when faced with it, all Starfleet ships, personnel and equipment are considered expendable. So... " - she bumped one of those rifles into me - " We're going to secure our shuttle, or die trying. "

Drawing a substantial breath, I grabbed the gun. We kept glaring at each other, unmoving. I guessed she wanted confirmation I understood the 'orders'. She was correct of course, hard to argue with our principal regulation.  
\- " Securing the shuttle isn't the equivalent of shooting them from the bushes. "  
\- " They won't just leave! "  
\- " We haven't warned them about who we are, that it's our shuttle, and what we are prepared to do. "  
\- " Because that would be too great a logical leap, huh?! "  
\- " Suborder.. "  
\- " 33.., yes. " - she sighed - " What if they open fire? "  
\- " Then we fire back. Not a nanosecond earlier. "  
She nodded, the gesture reminding me of Seven. When it's quite obvious she doesn't want to agree, but it is the correct and the right thing to do at the same time.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~14~ :: The Shuttle_

_More notes :: The current state of the next chapter is a single paragraph. I'll try to hurry it up, but I have so much homework to complete_ :f


	14. The Shuttle

_Author's Note :: Sorry I took so long, had to arrive at the bitter realization that writing action scenes isn't fun at all. Especially since my intentions greatly shifted since the beginning, describing fights and such really isn't the point of this story anymore._

**Chapter ~14~ :: The Shuttle**

**.**

Weapons fire sounding in the distance broke the perfect idyll at our pond. Zapping her head toward the sound, Piper approached the rock face.  
\- " A week's rations it's the bugs. "  
\- " You shouldn't bet on something you are certain of. "  
She gave me a smug look. As I walked to the edge as well, a spaceship came into view, landed on the trees, near our crash site. Kilometers away it wasn't easy to see, wasn't big either. Wouldn't even call it a starship, might have been just a lander though. How they managed to put her down on top of the trees was another good question, perhaps they had a crude method to achieve levitation despite gravity.  
\- " I'm fairly certain they've heard the shot. " - Piper added.  
\- " Maybe you shouldn't have taken it then. "  
Snickering with contemptuous disillusion she shook her head at me - " Sometimes you're just a few colours short of a rainbow, huh?! "  
I quirked my brows, befuddled.  
\- " They fired 7 times. Four at the cat, three at the tree. But I guess only the eighth one, the one I took would sound suspicious, right?! "  
I didn't reply.  
\- " We should move, quickly. "  
\- " What about your cuts? "  
\- " I'll live. "

Before leaving, we put all our stuff we couldn't take with us into the tent, and made sure the two aliens were rendered harmless. One of them awoke, apparently not appreciating his situation. Piper tied them to the rope hanging from the branch, so if they wanted to bounce around like worms, they could, only not too far. They couldn't be very loud at all with the piece of cloth tied tightly across their mouths, falling very silent however after Piper suggested they try to mumble as much as they can, perhaps the friends &amp; family of the predator they've killed would find them sooner then.

If nothing else, Piper had her strength as an admirable quality. I don't mean her punches, but her willpower, suppressing the pain of her injuries, and everything related, only focusing on the task at hand. If only that task wouldn't have been so greatly influenced by some sort of a violent thirst for blood. I couldn't be sure what was going on in her head, somehow I didn't think asking about it in her current state would be a fruitful endeavour either. For some reason I still trusted her word on not engaging them until we had to. Regardless how wild and unpredictable she felt, that scenario still remained unlikely in my opinion.

We have fetched everything worth protecting, like tricorders and dysfunctional phasers, all medical gadgets and zipped the rest of it up in the tent. Piper put on a new pair of pants, they were like wet-look leggings, but this situation marked the first time when I actually wasn't ogling her. Anyway, I do believe she only picked them due to the fact they covered her skin entirely, just like the long sleeved top she wore with it. I've put on more functional clothing too, only not as insufferably tight as hers. She slapped some bandages on her newest cuts, and then the tight fabric. Good luck with that. Loosing a lot of blood, she shot the entire canister of the substance the medical kit had to alleviate that condition into herself. Then, we were ready to go. Since she started to approach me, my heart was once again throbbing in my throat.

\- " Do you know how to use that? "  
I lifted the rifle, the trigger was obvious, not much else. Piper grabbed the barrel and twisted it away.  
\- " First: don't point it at anything you aren't ready to shoot. "  
\- " Sorry. "  
She sighed - " This " - she pointed at a particular nook on it - " is the safety, right now, you can't fire. "  
I looked at her, but her gaze suggested I wasn't doing something that was expected of me.  
\- " Pull the trigger. "  
Again, perhaps 'trust' is the most hilariously wrong word I could come up with in relation to her, but I couldn't shake the feeling there was a method to her madness, so I did. Nothing happened.  
\- " See? " - she nudged it to the next setting - " This is single fire. You squeeze the trigger, it fires one bullet. You release and squeeze again, it fires another. " - she pushed it back to safe - " You needn't concern yourself with the third, that's full automatic, likely emptying the magazine in a few seconds tops, and these things run on ammo, so that's bad idea. " - grabbing her gun, she put it up to her shoulder - " You aim by lining up these green dots, like on a phaser rifle, but you won't see the bullets in flight, you can't adjust based on that. So you aim carefully, and fire. Don't expect to be accurate above 20 meters. "  
\- " These weapons are that bad? "  
\- " I don't know.. " - she shrugged - " They might be accurate up to a hundred meters, but you won't be, thanks to the weight and the recoil. "

_~Thanks for the vote of confidence~_  
\- " When it stops shooting, you are out of ammo, so press that button " - she did, the magazine falling out, she handed me another one - " Put the other back in.. " - I only took about 12 seconds to do so, can't say these rough steel things were agreeing with me - " Like you mean it! " - she moaned, hitting the bottom of it, the weapon making a clicking noise - " Then pull that. " - I did, my fingers nearly breaking off by the time the latch moved. A bullet sprung out, she caught it, leaned down for the magazine, and loaded it in - " You got it? "  
\- " Yeah.. "  
\- " Are you sure? "  
\- " Yes Piper. "  
She reset her posture, annoyed - " If you forget to pull the latch, it won't fire. If you forget the safety, it won't fire. "  
\- " I'm still hoping for a reasonably peaceful resolution. "  
\- " I don't care what you are hoping for, phasers are standard equipment on an away mission, are they not? "  
\- " Yes they are. "  
\- " Officers are supposed to know how to handle them, just in case, right? "  
I nodded, putting on a stern look.

\- " This uncomfortable hunk of metal is your phaser! Make sure you know how to use it, just in case these asshats who look, smell and act like bandits turn out to be bandits. " - I sighed, but she continued, holding up a smaller pistol - " This is a sidearm, no extra mags so make the 9 shots in it count. See the little peck on the trigger? That's the safety. You just squeeze the trigger and it fires, but you can drop it and put it in your pants, because the only thing that can make it fire is a finger pressing the trigger, get it? "  
Piper had these adjustable fixtures on her holster, all I could do was put it in my pocket. Had to take her word about not going off in there.  
Approaching the... _our_ prisoners she slapped one of them a couple of times, rather degradingly, while kneeling down to him. He twitched, growling, but their binds were tight, he couldn't really move much, besides nudging himself left or right with pelvic muscles. It looked really uncomfortable.  
\- " How many more of you, down there? " - Piper asked. Worth noting the gunfire in the distance was still heavy, going to war with the bugs must've been a rather taxing endeavour.  
She pulled the cloth out of his mouth, can't say the answer surprised me - " I'm not telling you a thing, bitch! "

Piper turned away, shaking her head and sighing complacently. The next nanosecond she pulled one of her pistols and put it up to his head, firing before I could even react. The ear-splitting bang gave me such a fright again, those things were really, really loud. Both aliens were whining and whimpering, she didn't hit anything, but I think it's safe to assume the shot was about 9000 orders of magnitude louder for them than for me, since she held the gun not more than 20 centimetres from their ears.

Then she pushed the barrel into his neck, I could hear the sizzling, apparently those things got hot when discharged. Good to know. Switching her legs around, Piper leaned closer, forcing the pistol into his cheek, hard enough to nearly puncture it - " How many more, and how did you land here?! " - she bellowed, loud and violent.  
This went on for a while, I was zoning in and out of it to be honest. On some level I still couldn't believe the sight of the third alien, with his head blown half open, laid out on the rocky shore. There was this torture going on too.. Part of me wanted to stop Piper.., yet I seemed to be paralysed. I was timid. That's ridiculous, I'm not timid. Just.., kind of what she said, about the gun, don't point it at someone you are not willing to shoot. Don't try to stop someone, unless you are ready to _really stop them_. I step in, yell at her, then what? I'm not going to aim a gun at her, I'm not the insane person from the two of us. I felt naked against her, I had nothing to threaten her with, not my physical might, _not my rank_. This used to feel titillating. Being without power over someone, over her in particular.., painted against a different backdrop, this really wasn't all that alluring.

Either way, she didn't fire more bullets, yelling and cracks with the butt of the pistol seemed to get her point across. There were apparently about 20 more of them in the jungle, flew in on a ship that can land through an atmosphere. To the dramatic question, why are you here, it has been revealed that they have detected our shuttle, and they came to take us. He claimed this was their turf, and so they would take us just like they regularly pick up people from the indigenous folk. Great, we were dealing with slavers.

Piper tried to make a suggestive point about that. I got the message too, but we weren't murderers. Despite evidence to the contrary, we were Starfleet Officers, dealing with things the Starfleet way. If that gets us killed, well I guess that's too bad. It is still what we've signed up for. My apprehension about meeting them, rather their leader grew considerably, but I was ready to face that challenge. They weren't Piper after all...

The very first leg of our journey was descending the cliff we were on. Her reasons escaped me, but Piper let me go first, only to breath right down my neck from the start... Then she grabbed me, very gently actually, basically tripping me, into herself, proceeding to slide down the rocks. Her intact butt cheek took the brunt of it, but it still must've been painful. It was a nice, if not a bit hectic short cut to reach the bottom, where she, once again very gingerly, helped me stand again. Her hands on me could've been covered in high energy plasma, that's what it felt like.

As she let me go, her hand, inadvertently or not, fondled round my butt, my hip, then my lower arm, holding my hand for a second longer than necessary. Our gazes locked for a few more seconds...  
\- " Stay close and stay quiet, huh? " - the wording may have been simple, but there was such sweetness in her tone, in her eyes too...  
_~WHAT THE HELL IS INSIDE YOUR HEAD PIPER?!~_ this question occupied my thoughts exclusively as I followed her. Her gesture felt _sooo_ nice, despite everything that happened mere minutes ago. I remembered what she told me in the tent before.., that too felt _sooo_ nice... However, she was obviously unstable, bipolar or whatever doesn't even begin to describe this. Stupid me suddenly got glad it was I, of all people, to go through this with her. There are many ensigns and even lieutenants on Voyager who couldn't handle this at all. Even the way I was handling it left much to be desired, but still. At least we both seemed to be functional, working toward something that made sense.

The machete was secured on her back, we were following the same creek the opposite direction, skipping along the naked rocks at its edge, silently. She had just been mauled by that 'cat', roughed up by the aliens and none of that echoed in the way she was moving. Then again, her ability to be a soldier was never in question. Thanks to our feline-like movements, we heard the slavers' trudging through the water before they had any chance to hear us. Once again, the softness of the touch as she reached out to me, guiding us both into the thick undergrowth, off the trail... If only she hadn't just tried to punch me a little earlier.

If I had to guess we were about halfway to the shuttle by now, hiding in the greenery. Piper was squatting right next to me, her hand on my back. She cared about me.., protecting me. The aliens were chatting about something, likely concerning the bugs. As much as I could glimpse, they were in a hurry, no doubt to find their comrades.  
\- " Only two of them.. " - she whispered, immediately shifting to move - " I can take them.. "  
I grabbed her hand, prompting her to look back - " Incapacitating them will buy us precious time. " - she explained.  
Blinking, I let her go.  
\- " Stay back. "

That's precisely what I wasn't going to do, but I let her take a sizeable lead. The realization hit me like a truck, as I instinctually grabbed my rifle, looking at it, reminding myself once again where the safety was. If Piper got herself in trouble, _I would shoot whoever I had to, no questions asked_.  
With their careless splashing across the creek and the intermittent gunfire still sounding sometimes from the shuttle's direction, Piper could exit the undergrowth behind them without tipping them off. I stopped near the edge, one knee down in the mud, squinting across a few leaves. Piper grabbed her rifle as she skipped along the rocks, catching up to them, but she was gripping the barrel, holding it out as a bat or a club. A few seconds later, she struck one of them down, throwing herself into the other as he flinched and yelped. I left the cover, dashing out into the channel and closer to them. By the time I could see clearly again, Piper had him in a choke hold, laying half in the water, her legs on his body, her face away to avoid his frantic attempts at reaching her. It took a while, but he was slowing down, Piper eventually looking at me. I'm not sure what was I supposed to see in that gaze, but it made me shiver. A little later he was motionless, and she put him down gently, getting out from under him.

I remembered my xenobiology classes, most humanoid species had jugulars very similar to ours, the point of this move wasn't choking, but constricting the blood vessels going to the brain, causing them to loose consciousness. Not as elegant as a vulcan neck pinch, but felt a lot safer to try on random aliens.  
Their communication devices were active, radio chatter coming through, cracking and beeping. Piper grabbed them and threw them in the water, after which they uniformly seemed to stop functioning. She also pulled their weapons apart, putting some ammunition away, throwing the rest into the jungle, then the weapons themselves the other way. I liked that solution.

\- " Let's go... " - she handed me a magazine, taking off.  
I felt inclined to compliment her, but I didn't. Suddenly wondering how this mission would come to its completion. In what scenario would we be able to get through to them without getting killed, or without the need to kill any of them. The only one I could come up with was sneaking to their leader, and threatening him at gunpoint. Not sure I liked that at all. But alas, we had no Voyager and its shields around us, playing the who hails who game...

**«std::endl;**

The gunfire died down by the time we neared the devastation caused by our landing, replaced by something else. A few times I could glimpse it, fire. They were setting the bloody jungle on fire. I followed Piper as closely as I could, ducking and sneaking around the perimeter. The growth was so thick, we were mere meters away but couldn't see too much, just hear the shouting. In a few spots the greenery wasn't as tall, could see the dark smoke and a few licks of flames then. Piper had her tricorder out, mostly guided by that I assumed. We settled near our shuttle, squatting next to each other, I could finally see the holograms of her gadget. Hats off to the Red Squad military engineers, that thing provided a 3 dimensional approximation of our surroundings, including the shuttle and the people around it. We barely needed to wait at all before catching a break.

We could hear them trying to locate the teams they've sent after us, apparently having zero success at it, probably because all their radios were either in the pond or in the river. The losses caused their leader to be careful, he ordered a larger group to go after them this time, six people. Couldn't see anything, only green, wet leaves, but the tricorder's holograms were perfect. That's what allowed us to hear them in the first place. The one in charge shouted some more about how the rest of them should watch the perimeter, and the few near him, take the shuttle apart.

Quietly whispering, we've figured a plan of attack. Apparently, the one that seemed to be the boss amongst them was inside the shuttle, along with two others. People were on the side of the strip, setting the fires and fending off the bugs, successfully as far as we could gather. A few of them were walking around, Piper suggested we neutralize as many of them as possible before confronting the people in the shuttle. I tended to agree with her, of course I'd have preferred phasers and the stun setting, but we weren't so lucky. We split up. Piper was much more skilled at this than me, so I stayed put, using my stupid-tricorder to track her movements, while she used hers to get the drop on at least two of them, and then we would pincer in on the shuttle. All I had to do at first, was staying low and waiting.

However, we've both seemed to ignore the fact that things rarely go the way you planned them when it really matters. One of them was in front of the shuttle, by a dozen meters at least, Piper met him first. All I could see was their lifesigns blinking from the same spot. Since there was no yelling, no nothing, and Piper kept moving, she took the first one down without problems. A moment later, I noticed a bandit previously on bug exterminating duty approaching the shuttle. I strafed somewhat, closer to the edge of the greenery, near the open stern of our ship. I crawled just close enough to be able to glimpse them.

One was further 'up', the inverse direction of our approach vector, but he just kept standing there since we got here. The one coming from the bugs' side, he had this huge suit on. Like an environmental suit, except much more bulky, flimsy and shitty. He was shouting something incomprehensible, putting down a tank, more equipment. Flamethrowers I guessed. Everything should've still been cool, except a few moments later I noticed him looking directly at me. There was NO WAY he could've seen me. He kept turning, back and forth around my position, I'd bet anything it was something in that suit. We knew they had crappy outdated equipment, so I shut off my tricorder, he may have been picking the energy signature, shifts in the EM field. He grabbed that hunky metal apparatus he dropped earlier, starting to approach the edge of the greenery. Approaching me, to be precise.

Now it was really time to be unsettled. He was somehow detecting me. That huge helmet must've had technology in it, maybe against the bugs, maybe against whatever, the point is it was picking up on my presence. People kept shouting from the shuttle, he didn't reply. Eventually as their tones became really aggravated he yelled:  
\- " There's something here! "

I started to slowly crawl backwards, but he got faster, pulling up that thing... I couldn't quite make out much, but panic quickly overrode everything else, prompting me to get the hell out of there. The same time I really tried to get up and run, I heard liquid spraying... Fuel.., then it was ignited. Flames went up a good meter away from me, it was still bloody hot, inciting a high-pitched whistling noise from the puffy wet leaves of the vines. Suddenly I gained my second wind, crossing the growth without a machete to cut ahead of you wasn't simple at all, but I put my weight against it like a bull, anything to get away from the burn.

Staying covert was thrown out, if he wasn't sure I was hiding in the bushes before, now he most certainly was, whatever I did. My vector of escape defaulted to simply _the hell away from the spewing flames_, eventually landing me 'outside', in the mud of the clearing the shuttle's crash cleaved into the jungle. Of course I fell, looking up from the ground at this freaking machine-man, that crude enviro-suit made him thrice as massive. Since I was out in the open, he decided to forego roasting me, or rather that's what I guessed. They were shouting, at me, at each other, I just tried to get up, aim at someone other than this bulky monstrosity.

Two people emerged from the shuttle immediately, a third one approaching from the other side, pointing his rifle at me. I was kneeling, hands on my weapon by my side, but this was hopeless. To make sure I understood that, the robo-man grabbed my shoulder and lifted the fat nozzle of the flame-thrower right to my face. The metal was redly glowing it was so hot, almost burning my face from the distance. I growled and tried to lean away, but he held me in a tight grip.  
One coming from the shuttle, the boss I assumed, started laughing, approaching us.

\- " You can't be the only missing troublemaker! "  
A second later, shots were fired, I couldn't tell from where, but they hit the suit. The glass on it cracked, along with the shoulder pads and whatever else, debris ricocheting all around, he groaned loudly, falling down towards the jungle. Piper.  
All the aliens leaned down or crouched, I've decided to spring up, elbow first into the bandit not far from me. I was busy with him in the ensuing fisticuffs, their boss kept shouting 'stop' repeatedly. Eventually I got struck in the back, falling back to my knees, a pistol pressing my head down further as my arm was held stretched in the wrong direction. The guy I attacked had time to get back up thanks to this...

\- " STOP! Or I blow her head off! " - my captor shouted.  
I struggled to look at possibly the same direction as he was, able to glimpse Piper, appearing from - I'd assume - the other side of the shuttle. She was aiming at a third alien on the hatch. The flamethrower-man kept making noises, cussing and such, I doubt he was injured by the shots in that suit. My weapon was kicked from my hands, a gun aimed at me, another at Piper in this stand-off. I kept struggling but that's not easy to do with a barrel touching your skull.

Piper dropped her rifle, the grip on me easing just a tad at the same time, I could look at them clearer. With her arms up, that third alien thought he could just seize her, bad call... She elbowed him, starting another fight, without guns. Using the commotion I tried to get up and fight, but this man was less stupid than the average, he stepped behind and kneed me down into the dirt. The impact was so powerful I could barely breath for the remainder of this bout. In my miserable state I just attempted to look at Piper, but with three people on her coming from all directions she was struck down, and a little later the world went dark.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~15~ :: Back in Space..._


	15. Back in Space

**Chapter ~15~ :: Back in Space**

**.**

Substantial trepidation greeted me as I came to. Immediately making the connection that we were on some sort of vessel, I hoped we wouldn't crash. It felt like we would, any moment now. The engines' booming was loud, the ship was shaking, the lights were blinking, fading in and out. I wanted to, but couldn't move, suddenly realizing my wrists were bound behind me, with a metal beam between them by the feel of it.

I was in a larger hall, it was lot longer than it was wide, seemed tubular from the inside. Noticed Piper chained across from me to a similar sitting arrangement lining the edges of the room. Our stuff was thrown together in the center. Everything was here, even our tent. They must've found their dead guy. Great, that ought to make things easier for us. The two photon torpedoes were laying about as well. Why the hell did we ever have those on our shuttle... We were going on peaceful shore leave. Anyway, they were with us, and now these people had them. If they even knew what they were.

They were sitting not far from us, strapped in. The damn vessel felt like it would come apart by the seams. We must've been approaching orbit. There were no windows, no décor to speak of, only metal beams everywhere, rough steel in colour. Lots of straps and nets to fix things down, this must've been a cargo hall. And apparently a troop deployment chamber too. My focus settled on Piper. She was awkwardly holding her injured butt cheek away from the seats. She glanced at me, but then held her gaze elsewhere. Of course she would blame me... If we ambush these people from the bushes, guns blazing, right away.., we could've had a chance. I was still glad we didn't though. Violence solves nothing. I believed that all my life. Piper wasn't going to change that.

Eventually the shaking and the loudly booming rumblings had stopped, we were back in space. It took minutes for the artificial gravity to compensate, their technology left much to be desired. The following half hour went by uneventful. The next time Piper happened to look in my direction I asked if she was all right. Her response was merely a glare, after which she closed her eyes, assuming a comfortable - as much as it was possible - posture. Trying to communicate with our captors proved unfruitful as well.

Then things started to pick up again, the 'Havesters' were running up and down, shouting from one console to another. Eventually a few more trepidations came, felt like the ship locked into place. Evidenced further by the back hatch hissing and puffing, opening a little later. We have docked onto a larger ship. Humanoids were the first cargo to be unloaded. A frickin' platoon of the friendly neighbourhood cavemen walked out in front of us first. I had no idea where they came from. This tubular cargo hold must've been bigger then I realized, it was simply hard to see past the separating rings between segments. They were on their best behaviour however, I strongly felt that they were conditioned for this, back on the planet. The poor sods must've thought these people were Gods, or something like Gods. Me and Piper were picked up too, shoved in the same direction.

This other vessel was just as filthy and dark as the landing unit. We were walking on metal grills, the corridors were heavily compartmentalized, the whole thing made of rugged and rusty steel. The ceilings were low, every gateway smaller than the space before and after. We didn't go far, only a few turns and a flight of stairs later we've arrived by a somewhat larger doorway, a set of steel bars. Looking inside, I already knew what this would be, our new home.

The guards confirmed that in number of amusing ways, and shoved us inside. Things must've been pretty tight here, none of the people already in thought to come to the door and try something. In fact, there was nothing but quiet in there. In a way this silent gloom was worse than joining a bunch of wild crazies. Even Piper was very accommodating.., but I sensed a sort of calculated calm from her, tactical withdrawal.

The cage locked behind us, leaving me even more apprehensive, if that was even possible. The cavemen beelined to their kind, largely ignoring everyone, and everyone ignored them too. We were in the spotlight, especially Piper. As the Captain I learned to stand at the front, but I'm not above admitting how glad I was to have someone else fly the vanguard this time. The guards let a few more grunts and laughs go and left.

The holding area was rather large, the way from the door opening to an arena-esque center, similar delves fanning out from it. They didn't end in doors, they ended in blank walls, the inhabitance using them as living arrangements. At a glance it became obvious the conditions were extremely poor, whatever 'furniture' we could see had been fashioned from scraps and who-knows-what else. The people came from a variety of species, most keeping to their own by the looks of it, except for the obvious apartheid of women. There were seven ways leading out of the center, counting the doorway we were in, making the arena a heptagon. Have to remember these fancy words for my report. At the time, the term 'shithole' felt much more natural.

The first and second one on the left had women, from all sorts of races. The first and second one on the right housed particularly disturbing bunch. For some reason the more pathetic or weak people seemed to be, the more directly across the door they were situated. I guess not spending your time somewhere the guards can see you was the privilege in here. One of the delves was entirely occupied by the cavemen from the planet we crashed on. Obvious from a light year they kept to themselves, simple folk. Their area had no beds or anything, only them squatting with their fists by their feet, staring. Eugh.

The particularly disturbing bunch... they were taller and lean, dark skin, void of color. I mean, no saturation, they were merely a shade of gray. The women had scraps on their bodies, some were more or less naked. The cavemen apparently had no need for adequate clothing. These people.. they looked almost passable in theirs, obviously the breadwinners in here. They had dark eyes like Piper, except she had a beautiful face around them, whilst theirs were more like skulls. As in a naked skull, very pronounced, sharp features, hollow cheeks.

I was getting sick, the entire cell... The floor, the walls were filthy, the makeshift beds and tents looked like they smelled like pee. The smells I could detect were poignant, sweat and anger and shame. I've always imagined slavers would look after their merchandise, just like any trader. By the looks of it, our captors couldn't even be regarded as proper traders.

One delve on the opposite end housed a more varied bunch, some of those aliens could even be regarded as pretty, so far as racial features went, but they seemed to be in even worse shape. A few elderly looking victims were also amongst their number. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, which I actually was of course, to know how things were decided in a place like this. Survival of the fittest.

Anyway, my quiet contemplations were over, Piper started to take a few steps inside.  
\- " Whatever happens, stay close and shut the fuck up. " - she whispered, barely tipping and turning her head my way.  
The entire hall was dead quiet since the new cavemen settled down, everyone was staring at us. Some more than the others, stood up, lining the center area, glaring. Who else, but of course one of the gray uglies stepped out in front of Piper.  
\- " Let me guess, you're the toughest waste of life in here? "

_~Oh Piper, come on...~_

\- " What would give you that idea..? " - the guy's voice was surprisingly pleasant, even. He opened his arms, bowing with his head tilted. The complacent warmth of the gesture was making me shiver, he was obviously playing a game, he wasn't sure he wanted to hate Piper already, or let her say a few more words...  
\- " Who's the smartest? " - she asked, seemingly completely ignoring the unvoiced threats, looking around casually.  
The man waited until she turned back to him - " I believe I hold that distinction as well. "  
Everyone was glaring, but they wouldn't say a thing. Guess why.  
\- " Who's the funniest? "

I almost moaned, my instincts and my orders to shut the fuck up colliding in my mind. What the hell was Piper up to, can't we just go to the women and be done with it? Nobody could tell she had anything down there, even in the tightest leggings. Separating the women obviously wasn't an idea originating inside here, the slavers wanted it that way, I'd have bet my neck on that. And they were confident enough to assume the rest of the slaves will tell us that and settle us in accordingly. Piper's cockiness with the toughest idiot in here was pointless.

Anyway, he started snickering at her, eventually glancing towards his cronies, lighting up in laughter together. That's when Piper punched him. Really hard, the smack echoing in the hall. The element of surprise even had him stumble and fall down.  
My heart was weightless, levitating in my chest, all my muscles tightened, I stood there frozen. The laughter ceased in an instant, they all took a step forward but craned, I'd assume they didn't exactly want to take revenge on a girl for punching their boss, they would let him do it. Piper didn't let him get up however, kicking him in the face as he would've tried to. Then again, she wasn't holding back, like.. _at all_, so vicious it was tough to look at, making me cringe. One of the goons had enough, seized Piper from behind, but a few kicks and grunts later she freed herself, knocking him a few steps back. Meanwhile, the boss got back up, but he was disoriented, his posture unbalanced and weak, he was clearly struggling to focus forward, his black blood all over his features. Piper dashed into a spinning jump, kicking him in the face yet again. Completely off guard, he was sent almost flying, directly into the metallic bulkhead separating two opposite delves, the people there conveniently stepping out of the way. His skull bashed against it so hard, the thundering thud resonated across the entire hall.

Turning around, Piper dodged the first two punches coming at her. This one seemed thicker than the bossguy, who wasn't making an even remotely voluntary movement since his head met the metal, laying there like a sack of potatoes. A full frontal assault would've been foolhardy to attempt I'd guess, Piper let the man attack, dodging out of _every single blow_, landing her own with cutting edge precision. She needed quite of a few to make a dent though. I even caught her smiling... That guy seemed tough enough to fold me, or her, up into a neat little package, but the gap between their fighting skills was a vast chasm. Even I could see how everything Piper did was calculated, a learned and excessively practised move. This wasn't a challenge for her, it was a grind.

After about the fifth time Piper was able to sidestep and kick him in the back of the leg, he fell down to a knee. Accelerating in a half circle, she jumped at him, knee to the face, knocking him down proper, and it was over right there. Not minding that one iota, she straddled his torso, unleashing a flurry of vicious punches. The last one was so powerful she lost her balance, ending up leaning over him, putting a hand down as she heaved. My face was in a grimace, his black blood splattered all around them.

The crowd's reaction to all of this was eerie to say the least. At the first punch, a gasping silence. Roused grunts and growls as she was caught, another silence as the toughest, smartest, and funniest had his career ended by the bulkhead. More people were sort of cheering in the ensuing battle. Sort of, because it wasn't the kind at a game, but the kind where everyone wants to see the new guy, girl in this case, learn a lesson. The real cheering came from the rest of the grayish coloured imbeciles. The volume went down as the fact that she was winning became obvious for even the most intellectually challenged. During the final punches, the leading bunch fell silent, gasping, taking steps back. For a while I feared two wouldn't be enough, but it was. When Piper stood up, no one seemed eager to continue this, you could hear a pin drop.

\- " ANYONE ELSE THINK THEY ARE TOUGH?! " - she bellowed, shoving the nearest darkskin into his buddies. No response of course, not even a pissed off gesture.  
\- " OR SMART?! " - opening up the question to the entire area she walked around, glaring.  
\- " OR FUNNY?! " - heaving, blood dripped from her gloves, people didn't even dare to look at her when she looked at them.  
Still glaring around for a few more calming breaths she eventually approached me, I was... phased, unsure what the say or do. Instincts kicking in, I followed her, acting like I was her pet. Acting may have been too strong a word.. I seemed to be a natural at it. We walked up to the second delve on the right, some darkskins, some other, disturbingly human-like people in there. The beds seemed fairly well groomed, there was a flimsy shack too. Considering the general circumstances, calling it cosy wasn't even a stretch.

\- " Get the fuck out! " - Piper aimed that at the shack. Two of them bolted right away, a third one, one who could've been mistaken for a human if not for his weird eyes and cleft in his chin, twin flaps of loose skin on his neck, seemed to have something to say.  
\- " The women go t... "  
Piper grabbed him, bashing and squeezing against the bulkhead..  
\- " I'm leaving! " - he yelped, his arms raised in surrender - " But the women go on that side.. " - he tipped his head toward the alcoves of females - " ..it's the rules! "  
Without anything further, she shoved him aside, turning herself, taking a few steps in towards the center.  
\- " New rules! " - she looked around, still had everyone's attention of course - " We sleep here, and more importantly, if anyone so much as looks at this one " - she pointed at me - " in a manner I do not appreciate, .. I'M BREAKING EVERY FUCKING BONE IN YOUR BODY! "

Suddenly, I felt like a diamond among rhinestones. As Piper turned back and walked to me, people seemed to turn away, process what's just transpired. The darkskins approached their wounded, I wasn't sure any of them would even be alive still, but I guess both were. Piper led me into the 'shack'. Wasn't so much a shack, only two beds in kind of a 'V' shape in the corner, with an overhang fashioned from scrap metal, some dirty fabric acting as a separating curtain. Like I said, as cosy as it gets.  
Piper sat so she could see outside, I couldn't. I did hear some quiet commotion starting back up, but that's it. I suppose the change in top dogs took some time to register in everybody. She fetched a rag to wipe the blood from her hands..

\- " That was.. " - I've realized as I spoke I had no idea what I wanted to say.  
My heart still beating loud and fast, I was shaking. Why the hell did Piper do that? How.. why.. what.. Didn't want the people to detect any sort of discord between us, so I leaned close enough to whisper.  
\- " Why the hell did you do that? "  
Piper simply.. regarded me for a fleeting moment.  
\- " You could've killed them! "  
\- " Slavers wouldn't have appreciated that. "  
\- " That's your answer? "  
\- " I meant what I said in the tent. " - she blinked, carding through her hair... God I really wished something happened to her that made her stop being irresistibly beautiful so I could stay angry with her in a sufficiently straightforward way.  
\- " And? "  
\- " That's why I fucked them up. So I can. "  
\- " Can what?! "  
\- " Get you back to Voyager. "  
\- " How's making enemies getting me back there?! "  
\- " I didn't make enemies. I made people aware what happens when they fuck with us. "  
\- " This is your answer to everything isn't it, beating and killing people?! "  
\- " Look around you Kathryn, we're imprisoned, hauled to be sold like cattle! The first duty of a captured Starfleet officer is to escape! "  
\- " Where exactly does that entail beating the other captives half to death?! "  
\- " You got a problem with the way I do things? "  
\- " Yes, I do! I think it's about time we go back to observing the chain of command! "

This eerie shift flashed through her features as she leaned closer to me, coyly biting her tongue - " Make me. "  
I sighed, angry - " You were the one lecturing me about the Prime Directive on the planet! "  
\- " If I adhere to that, you'd have a hole in your skull, our shuttle would've been blown up, and I'd be back at the waterfall, dangling my feet. Waiting for Voyager, thinking up a way to explain why I thought paragraphs in a document are more important than their Captain! "  
\- " That's what we've signed up for, Piper! "  
\- " You know.. " - the bitch chuckled, shaking her head - " The difference between us, is that you are ready to sacrifice your own for the ideals of careless, fat philosophers. I'm ready to sacrifice anything, for my own. "  
\- " And that's the wrong way to think! "  
\- " I don't know what you take away from officer school, I guess simply that ordering people into their deaths is part of the job. You know what we learn, at combat training and conditioning? " - .. she paused .. - " That the only thing you are ever fighting for, is the guy standing next to you. I dislike a lot of people on Voyager, but they are my people, right? And we all need you, we need you to take us home! So my only objective is to get you back there, in one piece. That's why I dropped my rifle, that's why I beat those pieces of shit up, that's why I will do everything I'm able to protect you! "  
Despite my anger, I had so many different thoughts pop into my mind from that, I couldn't reply. I didn't have time either. In the heat of this conversation I've completely missed the door locks and the commotion outside.

\- " Where are the new arrivals?! " - a shouted question came from the heptagon.  
\- " Stay here.. " - Piper whispered to me, then sprung up, out of the shack - " Right here! "  
I shimmied along the bed, peeking through the _lovely_ curtains. It was a guard of course, his attire considerably cleaner and fancier than the average we've come to expect.  
\- " You know my employer doesn't value a piece of merchandise decreasing that of the other. " - he said, glaring at the darkskin still on the floor. His tone and the curve of his lips indicated amusement though...  
\- " Looks like your employer doesn't value his merchandise at all. " - Piper opened her arms - " How 'bout we get a few fluffy beds in here, maybe a vending machine? "  
After sufficient pause for effect, the guard started laughing, more that I couldn't see joining him soon after, echoing in the whole area. They seemed to have sufficient respect in here, everybody I could see was stood up, near the walls, observing.  
\- " They mentioned you were an interesting one.., you do not disappoint. We'll start with you. "  
\- " Start what?! "  
\- " ...Processing. " - he lifted an arm to point - " Let the nice gentlemen escort you. "  
\- " Why don't you make me? "  
\- " Because I don't have to. "  
The next moment, another guard stepped into the picture, all I saw was a baton of some sort poking into her side. Only poking, no zest in the swing. She grunted awkwardly, falling to the floor, squirming and snivelling there...  
\- " Ingenious device, isn't it... " - he smirked, dripping with scorn... Oh how I wished I could just beat him with the same thing... - " Unlike what you did to these poor sods, this leaves people unscathed, but it hurts, _a lot_, doesn't it? "  
Piper was still growling on the floor, heaving actually, twitching uncontrollably, spasms in all her muscles.., what the hell did that thing do to her...  
\- " So... " - he pretended there was some filth to flick off his uniform - " you either come with us, or they use it again. "

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~16~ :: Riot..._

_._

_Author's Note :: Thanks for the comment, I feared I was all alone here :)_


	16. Riot

**Chapter ~16~ :: Riot**

**.**

Piper was gone for hours. We have received food in the meantime. The method was the following: a hatch opened in the center of the arena, these bricks falling down afterwards. They were the size of a large loaf of bread, perfectly rectangular with sharp edges, although they were sticky and jelly-like, hard jelly though. The taste was horrible, pungent... but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

There was a signal before the whole feeding ordeal, causing most people to line around the arena. Actually, mostly only the darkskins went close to the center, everyone else seemed to be waiting for their turn. I approached the edge of the crowd too, without knowing what we were waiting for. Then the hatch opened. The first few hitting the ground broke up, the rest falling on their unfortunate cousins stayed intact. I was extremely hungry, I've only realized that fact when they took Piper away, but by now it was mostly everything on my mind. Still, since no one moved, I didn't either.

Turns out, they were waiting their turn. The darkskinned fellows moved in, taking the most pristine bricks. I was completely at a loss on what to do, I sure as hell wasn't going to pull a Piper here and start beating people up. The one guy squatting above the pile retrieved nearly every single fully preserved foodstuff.., which was the bulk of it all. Seeing how many people were left still, I began to embrace the idea of staying hungry. As the darkskin stood up everyone else lunged, throwing themselves at the rest of the pile like a pack of animals. Well not everyone, some women and older-looking aliens stayed behind, some sitting still in their delves, apparently not caring too much about it all, but mostly they just looked like they'd given up on eating a long time ago.

I looked at the darkskins distributing among their lot, eventually my gaze locked with one of them. With Piper gone for so long, the hunger, with this whole damn situation, my mind was on the edge, I think that managed to inspire me, and not look away. To my surprise, the man approached me and handed me two fully intact bricks. _Two_. I recognized him, not by name of course, he was the 'third' of them, I thought. The one who looked just about to engage Piper during the altercation, but then decided not to, after the first two were both rendered harmless. He was the one that got pushed, I could just see the 'it's not worth it' in his gaze when it happened.

Accepting them I tried not to look... like anything. Indifferent pokerface. Once I had them and I turned, back toward my.. _our_ delve I looked over some of the others. The remaining food chunks were snapped up in seconds, everyone who managed to get some running away into a corner or at least to the wall, stuffing their faces. And then there I was, standing with two full meals in my hand, as if holding a fancy platter, compared to them. Needless to say, not all of them were eating, in multiple cases the game was still about who gets to eat and who doesn't, yelling, smacks and shoves. The most that happened to me was being targeted by a few piercing glares. Nobody dared to approach me, forget approach, even shout something at me. I hated that Piper was right. I hated that violence had already managed to solve a problem before if it even became one. Everything in me wanted to share what I had with a few of the more miserably looking folk. But alas, being a Starfleet Captain managed to sneak some tact and guile into me too. Sharing might have been the right thing to do here, it wasn't the correct one. Not now. For better or worse, Piper's actions landed me, us both, in an aura, one I couldn't afford to shatter so soon after it was created.

I've decided to preserve an entire brick for Piper, if I would find the right moment for some sharing later, I would do it from my own piece. My conviction to share was reinforced after I bit into it, back in the relative privacy of our 'beds'. The texture felt like eating raw sawdust, the taste... well I have nothing to compare it to. I was fairly certain however that it was packed with nutrients, and my training told me to eat it. Remaining weak because I don't like the taste of the only available food isn't a mistake I'd ever make. Despite the culinary sensations being downright torture, I ate half of my brick in a matter of minutes, guess I was _actually_ hungry. I was just about to contemplate exactly how much I'm willing to keep for sharing when I heard the cage open, faint commotion coming from that delve. I threw everything down and rushed there.

Piper was just getting up from the floor, the cage locking behind her, a few grinning guards leaving. The way she stood up.., obviously in pain. Her face was red, we weren't exactly in pristine condition coming here, but she managed to look worse. Her shirt was torn, barely there, leggings torn in several places too, the exposed skin ridden with reddened contusions... She didn't have her belt anymore. For a fleeting moment, her expression showed her real self, in pain and embarrassed, before the badass pretence returned.

\- " Are you all right? "  
\- " No. " - she answered quiet and deep, stumbling past me. A few steps and we were back at our delve, Piper took notice of the darkskins eating. I could see her shift, I dashed to her and grabbed her arm.  
\- " They've given us food. " - glancing at me she stopped - " It's at our bed. "  
Back on the original vector, we didn't take more than another step when a smaller alien came running from there. Even I knew what that meant.., Piper reacting in a flash. I thought it was a child, but she grabbed his collar and bashed him into the nearest bulkhead regardless. I heard a single gasp, from somewhere on the other side, but my focus remained on them.  
\- " Piper..! "  
\- " Did you take something?! " - she asked, holding him pinned to the wall, his feet didn't reach the ground.

He squirmed, shaking his head, but by then my half-eaten brick has already fallen out of the sleeve of his flimsy shirt.  
I was just about to intervene when someone else did - " Don't hurt him! "  
Piper held him with one hand on his neck, readying the other for a blow, turning her head instead - " The fuck are you? "  
\- " I told him to take it! "  
\- " Bad liar. " - they were obviously from the same species, the prettiest one in here if I had to rate them.  
\- " He's a child! His mother is right there... " - he pointed to the other side, to a woman in obvious distress, the one that gasped I'd wager - " Please. "  
\- " What do you expect to get from a please in a place like this? "  
\- " Nothing. But I can help you. "  
Piper merely snickered.

\- " I've never seen your species before.. " - he glanced at me briefly - " Neither of yours. You need information, information I can provide. "  
Her features went into contemplation mode for a few moments, eventually letting the child drop.  
\- " That your woman? "  
\- " She's my sister. "  
Piper leaned down for the food - " Your information sure did well to protect her. " - she added snidely. The woman was a wreck, apparent even from across the distance.  
\- " I'm a scientist, not a soldier. " - the man replied, swallowing the insult.  
She handed me the brick.  
\- " I... " - her eyes snapped to mine, and I realized I had no choice. Not because I was afraid of her or anything like that. Tact. The last thing either of us needed is to show discord between ourselves. The rational part of my mind managed to keep me on the correct road. I didn't have a ship, more than a hundred people, the cavalry I should say to back me up doing the right thing. We were only as strong as the two of us here, I had to maintain that if I wanted to survive. Yes, I wanted to survive, preferably not looking like that woman. So I took it.

\- " What makes you think I'm a soldier? "  
The child took the opportunity to escape, unhindered.  
\- " The way you fight. You're not a thug, you're a professional. " - he looked over to the woman again briefly, sighing - " Also, most women can't even stand when they're brought back.. "  
Suddenly, Piper pulled him between herself and the bulkhead, shoving him into it, her lower arm across his neck. She was taller than him too, and obviously stronger both physically and in willpower.  
\- " I didn't mean anything by that! " - he yelped.  
\- " Do they take the men away?! " - she pressed on him even stronger.  
\- " No.. " - he could barely get the word out.

Piper just kept pushing for a few more moments, eventually shoving him toward our corner. He fell, grunting. Her back was towards me, she barely turned her head my way, but I could see her eye trying to glimpse me. I knew what this was, she hoped I didn't see it. But I did, that flash on her expression. This insidious feeling crept into me, causing all my extremities to feel like a void was swallowing them, along with my intestines and my heart. What did they do to her..? _What did these damned bastards do to her..?_

**«std::endl;**

We sat down onto the beds, this guy sitting on the floor. His name was Feren. The first thing revealed during the conversation, was that Piper hated the taste of the food too.  
\- " What the hell is this..? " - she complained, grimacing directly after taking a bite.  
\- " It's codenamed TL4. "  
\- " TL4..? " - she raised her brows.  
\- " Mhm.. "  
. " And you know this how? "  
\- " My species.. we are from the Valore Federacy, this is our space. "  
\- " Obviously. "  
He sighed - " These people are called the Rakaav. They are also part of the confederacy, but.. they are less sophisticated. "  
\- " Is slavery permitted in your federacy? " - I asked.  
\- " No. "  
\- " Then why aren't we being rescued? " - Piper pressed.  
\- " Because.. politics? It is illegal for our patrols to stop their ships without probable cause. "  
Piper covered her face with a palm. I wanted to do the same thing.  
\- " However, I know exactly who to contact and how, get me to a communications console and I can summon a fleet in a wink. "  
\- " Because you are? "  
\- " A Valorian citizen. That's all I need to be. As I'm sure you can imagine when actual Valorians are involved politics matter little. "  
_~Couldn't they just scan these ships?~ ~People must know you were taken, why aren't they looking for you?~ ~How can you government allow this in the first place?~_ All valid questions, all bloody pointless to ask.  
Piper kept quietly eating for a short while.  
\- " Passed some sort of lower grade command center on the way. " - she said, chewing still - " I think there's comms access there. "  
\- " Can you get to it? "  
\- " No I can't walk through metal fucking bulkheads! It's night time on the ship, starting about an hour ago. " - she looked at me - " That's why they are not here for you. But they will be in the morning. "  
\- " Maybe I can get to it when they take me.. "  
\- " Are you high? " - she grimaced at me - " There's like five of them escorting you. _They are not taking you anywhere anyway._ " - sighing she looked back to the guy - " What about them? The uglies? " - winking at the darkskins.  
\- " They are Hakuut, a primitive species. I think they have about a dozen warp capable starships altogether. But they are technically part of the fed... "  
\- " I don't give a FUCK about your federacy! Tell me something about them I can use! "  
He remained silent.  
\- " Can they fight? Is slaves all they can be? "  
\- " They are used for manual labor throughout the fede.. Yes. But those are paid jobs, a menial existence but still an existence. They should know that won't be the case this time. I can't imagine them being more partial to the Rakaav, if that's what you are asking. "  
\- " We won't get anything done just us. We need muscle. We need to break out of here when they come for you. " - she glanced my way again.  
\- " They have guns, the painsticks too. " - our newest acquaintance pointed out.  
\- " So? There won't be more than three or four guards inside when they come in. There's a dozen of them. There's me. That's two dozen against four. "  
\- " People still might get killed. "  
\- " You don't seem to be getting the point of this. "  
\- " He is right Piper, we shouldn't attack them head on. " - I interjected.  
She turned to me, slowly, simply gazing. Blinking a few times.  
\- " Right. " - she stuffed the last piece of the 'TL4' into her face, a rather substantial bite, I guess she was trying to get it down as fast as possible. Standing up she kicked at the guy, not seriously at all, only as a blunt method to get him moving away - " Make sure you are out of sight when shit hits the fan, without you I'm not sure who'll call the cavalry. "  
\- " Didn't you hear me? " - I called out, actually offended, she regarded me again with those beguiling eyes, a condescending look in them.  
\- " The cage doors are magnetically sealed. The wiring runs inside the inch thick beams. There's no fancy, frail technology to exploit, no access ports to anything in here. Crude problems have crude solutions. I will create enough distraction to make this happen. "  
Feren stood up - " What if that doesn't work? "  
\- " _It will work_. But I'll bite, what's your idea? "  
\- " Mine starts when I'm at the comms panel. "  
She shook her head sighing - " Go comfort your sister. "  
\- " The guards.. don't appreciate when anyone talks to the women. "  
\- " Go tell your sister everything's going to be all right, because she fuckin' needs it. Now. "  
He swallowed, nodding then hogging his head. Piper started moving away too.  
\- " Where are you going? "  
\- " Recruiting. "

**« std::endl;**

I fell into some silent contemplation while Piper was gone. Tried to listen for what they were saying, but the conversation was too quiet. I ended up eating my share of the food brick. Then I felt guilty about that. I felt guilty about a lot of things.  
\- " So...? " - I asked when she got back.  
Piper shrugged - " I can only hope I got through to them. Apparently they are beating people regularly, come in for speeches and stuff. "  
\- " Speeches? "  
\- " Yes, there seems to be a method to this madness here. The women over there, the relative order that dwells on this place... We haven't experienced a fraction of the true extent of what is going on here. These people are broken. "  
\- " What's going to happen then? "  
\- " What I said, we will get them in the morning, break out of here. "  
\- " How many do you think there are of them? "  
\- " Could be hundreds, I think this is a rather big ship. "  
\- " What? How is this going to work if... "  
\- " We don't need to go far, just let that guy call in reinforcements. "  
\- " Piper this is too dangerous! These people aren't trained like you! "  
\- " Staying here is dangerous. We can't stay here. This place... " - she shook her head, twitching.  
_What the hell was that?_ Felt like a genuine creeped the hell out moment. _From Piper._  
\- " Are you all right? "  
\- " No, I'm not _all right_ Kathryn! Neither of us are! We have to get out of here, as soon as possible! "  
\- " Why? "  
\- " What do you mean why? Why do you think?! " - she held her hands up, her voice raised. That was a dumb question, I'd admit.  
\- " Piper.., what did they do after taking you aw.. "  
\- " It doesn't matter. "  
\- " It matters Piper, I want to know. "  
She shifted closer, leaning right in my face - " What matters Kathryn, is that they won't do it to you! Got that?! "  
\- " Piper.. "  
Seizing my chin she pushed me into the bulkhead, her eyes were bloodshot, moistening up - " You got that?! " - she took a quick breath - " They won't do it to you! I will not let them.. do it to you! "

For several long moments we were just gazing at each other, she was very upset, breathing fast and shallow... That feeling I had earlier was back with a vengeance. _What did they to her?!_  
\- " Tomorrow they'll want to take you. I will step in, and you won't do shit! " - she was still grabbing me, not violently, she wasn't hurting me, just... getting a point across.  
\- " I can't just let you.. "  
\- " Tell me! " - she reinforced her grip - " Tell me you won't fuckin' volunteer... " - her nose got snotty, she kept taking quick breaths through it - " Or try to stop me! Tell me! "  
\- " Piper.. " - I was about to cry, and I didn't even know why. There was something affecting her so profoundly.  
\- " Kathryn! " - she bumped me, though gently, into the bulkhead again - " Voyager needs you more than it needs me.. "  
\- " No, that's.. "  
\- " IT'S THE TRUTH! " - her shout was a whisper, obviously she didn't want anyone else to be aware of this 'conversation' - " I'm here to protect you, and you're gonna let me! Say it! "  
Several long moments passed again, both of us heaving and upset now, I put a hand on her wrist holding me, but she didn't budge.  
\- " Say it! " - she whispered again, her eyes rapidly focusing from one of mine to the other.  
I started nodding a few seconds later - " Okay.., okay. "  
\- " Okay.. " - she nodded too - " Whatever happens, remember you said that. And remember, that everything I do, I will do assuming you will keep your word. "  
We nodded some more, she let me go, moving back to her side, hissing as she sat down on the wrong butt cheek. Wiping her face awkwardly.. actually, is there a proper way to wipe your face when it's all red and teared up? I don't think there is. What I know is that she looked miserable doing it, and I hated that. It suddenly hit me, I should've done what she did. I'm the Captain here, since when am I letting my crew get taken away first, or anything similar? Furthermore, she made me promise I wouldn't do it the next time...

**« std::endl;**

How do you sleep in a place like this? Piper could. Although I'm fairly certain it must've been some method she learned in training. Or maybe she was simply excellent at faking sleep. I kept laying down and looking at the inside of my eyelids too, but I felt like I didn't get a moment's rest. The entire ward was silent, even though the lights barely suggested it was night time. This heavy gloom settled on us all. I couldn't explain it. Part of me wagered there's a little something extra in that TL4. Kinda felt like Feren would've mentioned if there was. Although he might simply not know everything.

Piper awoke with a sudden start, almost falling out of the shack. The way she actually got up was as if she would be an old man trying to make it out of bed. Most of her body seemed to be in pain. Yet she shrugged it off, making a few stretches, warm up moves with a grimace on her face. Like a machine, driven by an ironclad determination. My opinions about her were absolutely all over place. The events of the jungle, our arrival here, they were hard to forget... Then there were my feelings for her. I didn't know what they were, but they were there, that much was for certain. I couldn't bring myself to criticise her too much, not even in the privacy of my own mind. I may have done many things differently, we both should've... but that's crying over spilt milk. As for the future, my report about all this... completely clueless. If I ever get to write one in the first place.

She disappeared for a little while, walked back but remained standing.  
\- " There's water in the next delve. "  
\- " Really? "  
\- " Well it's flowing from a naked tube in a thin strand and it isn't cold, but it's water. " - she shrugged - " I think. "  
I was thirsty but somehow I couldn't bring myself to jump up and go there right away.  
She leaned head first against the bulkhead, and remained that way for minutes. We both stayed silent. I had so many things on my mind, too many, but I didn't know where to start. By the time I would've, some banging sounded from the gate. Those batons on the metal bars.  
Several guards walked into the heptagon. Piper met them ahead, but they were here for me...  
\- " You know I thought I made it clear you are supposed to go on that side. "  
\- " Sorry I must've missed that. "  
\- " Well make sure you are there, waiting for your friend. "  
\- " You're not taking her anywhere. "  
\- " Aren't I? Who's going to stop me? You? "  
\- " Yeah. Me. "

He signalled with his head, another guard beginning to move. This time Piper dodged the baton and smacked him, striking the chief next. In the ensuing altercation the darkskins had about 5000 moments to intervene but they didn't. One time it seemed like one actually would, but he was shouted at, and that was all it took to stop him. Piper eventually went down, shocked with that thing. The leader wiped his face, nodding my way again. The guard began moving _again_ but Piper stopped him _again_, kicking his feet from the floor. He fell down quite embarrassingly.  
Right after he snapped up he poked Piper in the abdomen, she barely grunted, gritting her teeth. Next, he raised the baton for a vicious strike, but the chief held his hand out. Another guard was standing by Piper's head, his mace at the ready.  
\- " Actually.. " - the chief kept wiping his nose and face, glancing at me a few times, but mostly looking at Piper in an obviously scornful way - " We will take her again. "  
\- " No! " - I yelled out, screw my promise, I couldn't just stand there!  
The guard that almost struck her turned around, awaiting my approach _eagerly_.

\- " Oh don't worry! " - the leader continued - " We will get back to you... " - he turned to the two guards staring down the darkskins - " Take her! "  
Piper was shocked again, her growling whimper might as well have been a dagger stabbing me. I charged forward, kind of aimlessly, running into a baton myself. There aren't enough curse words in the English language to describe its effect, and I refuse to turn to Klingon. The experience wasn't unlike a simple electric shock, but at the same time I felt as if my entire torso was on fire. Not only the skin, everything, excruciating and almost unimaginably intense, paralysing pain, everywhere. I fell to the floor without being able to do much about it. I'm not sure how she was taken away, for a short while I couldn't concentrate on the world at all.

**« std::endl;**

Once the reverberations of the shocks cleared, I went back to our shack for maybe ten minutes. That's all it took for me to completely flip out, internally at first, then... Never got to know what they do to people.. to women when they are taken away but I had a few good ideas. They had Piper again. The prospects were killing me, from the inside, that's not even exaggerating. I was angry, with myself, with Piper, with everyone in here. Nevermind she wasn't actually a girl. For all I know they might be revelling at her uniqueness. She was hurt there, really hurt, not at all like that tiger thing in the jungle hurt her. This much was obvious.

These people though.. no one helped me up. Not even Feren. I didn't expect too much from anyone of course, but at least he could've done something. I was extremely angry suddenly, hating the guts of everyone surrounding me. Couldn't believe I wanted to share my food with them. People who can't even stand up and think to defend themselves may as well rot in whatever bad situation they are. I didn't like thinking that, but it was the damn truth. What the hell could be so bad here? The painsticks? They are unpleasant but breaking my will? To hell with that. To hell with all of these people, too bad I needed them. I needed them, and I didn't care about their well being anymore. Couldn't bare the thought of what Piper was going through again, because the several dozens slaves in here were too chicken to attack the _five_ bloody guards that came in. I no longer cared about anything other than the goal, quite frankly, they could've been flailing assault rifles around, and these people could've been my crew, I still would have decided on the same thing. If you are captured you are supposed to escape, or die trying. That's actually in agreement with protocols. _~Or if it's not I don't give a damn!~_

My short contemplation was enough to come up with a deduction from my remembrances. There was that weird alien, with the flaps on his neck. The one Piper... the one _we_ kicked out from this corner. He was skulking around the heptagon during the most recent business. Maybe I even remembered him from earlier, talking to people. A damn collaborator. He walked in front of me at the same time, my thoughts blocked out most of what he said, but it was about getting me to the women. I'm not exactly certain how this psychological warfare was conducted here, but I guess we haven't been present for long enough. The point is I looked up at him with a thirst for blood.

Basically jumping forward, I grabbed his rugged shirt and bashed him into the bulkhead across.  
\- " What did you tell them?! " - I nodded toward the darkskins.  
\- " Wha..!? " - his voice was piping, his face so scared, what a miserable little piece of shit - " I was just.. "  
\- " SHUT UP! "  
I shoved him aside, he tripped and fell. I couldn't believe how easy this was. Driven and without hesitation, I approached those cowardly bastards.  
\- " Why didn't you do anything?! "  
I immediately had the attention of nearly all of them, but none replied.  
\- " For crying out loud a guard was knocked into you two! " - pointing at the culprits - " WHY DIDN'T YOU FIGHT?! "  
\- " Were we supposed to save your mistress? "  
No time or will to correct his terminology.  
\- " You are supposed to help yourself! FIGHT BACK! This was your open opportunity! "  
\- " Most people are like you when they first come here. " - this flappy asshole spoke up from behind me.  
\- " Shut up. " - I didn't even turn.  
\- " In time you will learn discipline, everyone else did. " - his tone sounded as if his head wasn't screwed on right. Obsessed, indoctrinated maybe.  
\- " I said SHUT UP! " - now I turned.  
\- " It's alright, everyone goes through this... "  
\- " GOES THROUGH WHAT?! SHUT THE HELL UP! " - I punched him so hard, I thought my knuckles broke. Piper's gloves.. must make this a lot easier for her. The bumps on my hand felt like I hammered nails into them, but I didn't care.

He had this light jacket on, long sleeved, made of the same flimsy material as his shirt. I could tear off the sleeves without effort. He was 'fighting back' like a child would. I felt bad because he seemed so helpless, not because of what I was doing to him. I was way past caring about any of that though. Intentionally or not, he was a toxic influence on everyone inside here, and had to be removed.  
The few times I glanced behind me, I saw a small crowd gather. They were just looking at me as if a mindless mob of robots. From one sleeve I fashioned a gag, the other I used to tie his wrists together then deposited his whining, squirming, miserable arse in the corner.  
\- " See that?! " - I heaved, getting up and walking almost right into the people watching - " That's what you look like, every time you let these people walk all over you! "

Glassy stares, I may have caught a few inspired looks but still.., I seemed to be the only one actually capable of anger, or thoughts about freedom.  
\- " When she comes back we're gonna break out of here! "  
\- " She'll probably be a corpse when they bring her back... " - some random assface mumbled in the crowd.  
\- " She won't be. "  
\- " She hit the chief! They'll kill her for that, despite her beauty. " - made a mental note: in the event anyone calls Piper beautiful again I would murder them myself.  
\- " Whatever they are doing to her, might kill you, it won't kill her. She is stronger and braver than all of you put together! " - ... - " So when she comes back, we are going to help her! "  
\- " If she is so strong why do we need to help?! "  
\- " Cause she is still only one person! " - I cried out, opening my arms - " We are going to have a plan by the time they return, and we are going to break out of here! " - I turned around to point at the squirming fool in the corner - " Or is that what you want to be for the rest of your miserable lives?! "

Wouldn't say I got them riled up, but we've felt as ready as we ever would be. I knew this was it, if we tried something here and it didn't work, there wouldn't be another chance. Even this chance was a stretch, but I had to believe the slavers were overconfident enough to overlook what happened when they took Piper. They thought they had these people completely broken. Maybe they weren't exactly wrong, but they weren't exactly right either. They couldn't be. That would've meant there was no hope. There is always hope. The one single feature of the human condition that delivered us from the darkest pits of our history, it's going to have to work here too.

I'm not sure why, but I seemed to have gained some respect with most of them by cuffing up that sneaky alien. I sincerely thought he was a plant. Someone to constantly whisper everything the slavers would want these people to hear, to think. I actually put him in our shack, using some more rags to make sure he can't get away from that corner, out of sight and out of mind. Eventually my cause gained a few followers, interestingly, they came from among the Valorians, like Feren. They felt to be the most intelligent bunch, perhaps that's precisely why.

Anyway, with more people telling the muscle-types that this would have to work, they became more cooperative. I didn't let anything be put up to chance this time, I had the darkskins line the delve with the gate from both sides. Anticipating that the slavers would shout at them to leave and all such tactics, I made sure they understood that all they needed to do was stay put, and wait for an opportunity. All it would take to lure them inside was for me to stand in the arena, and stay there, whatever they do. Then they would have to come in. And they did.

When they finally showed, my will faltered, I have to admit. Piper... Oh, Piper... This time she wasn't mostly intact, the exact opposite. Enough of her pants remained on her to conceal the exotic part of her anatomy, but that was it. Her shirt, her gloves, her boots were gone. A guard was dragging her along with her arms pinned behind her back.., her head bopped forward, she could barely keep stumbling forward. Her normally rather bright skin completely covered in reddish contusions, several bloody wounds. I think my entire command experience was required just to keep me from breaking down and crying right when I laid eyes on her. However, somehow I managed to channel my despair into rage, into determination. Every single one of my earlier reservations were completely thrown out now. I wanted the slavers to pay.. and I didn't care at all what happened to them. One look at the women in here and it was obvious: they were enduring something very similar, except maybe just a tad less brutal. Whatever fate these 'Rakaav' would suffer in the following minutes, they deserved worse.

So the shouting started up... The darkskins didn't move though. My instincts were right, the slavers were overconfident, they came in anyway. Five of them, armed, but they were soon surrounded by ten from each side. They were shouting at me too, but I didn't move. One of the darkskins was looking right at me when I glanced over. I winked, tipping my head, hoping he would get the message. He did. Stepping forward, he didn't exactly attack them, but created some commotion. The leading guard had Piper, he jumped at the one right behind him.

Seconds later however, even the one ahead turned toward them. Busy shouting at the darkskin, there was this singular moment of distraction. I was too far to do something meaningful, trying to dash forward, but Piper recognized it as well. Of course she did. She ripped herself away from the man holding her, just enough strength in that I'd say to grab the baton from him. Canting forward, she ripped it from his clutches, planting a foot ahead and spinning right away. I have never seen someone zap around so fast before, and strike with such force. I don't think anyone present did. One of those moments when you were looking right at it and still feel like you've missed it. A thudding crack, and the man's face was turned completely to the side, his jaw no longer properly attached to the rest of his head. Blood flowing down his awkwardly hanging chin in a broad strand, teeth, tiny pieces of flesh and specks of red on the bulkhead. It wasn't simply a hit, he wasn't simply smacked in the face, I think even his neck snapped, that was a lightning fast, killing blow. Most people never develop a proper concept of what it means to hit someone with full force, even something. When taking an axe to a tree one is still afraid of hurting oneself, or breaking the axe, inadvertently tempering the blow. There was no tempering in this one. The strength of a person is secondary, it didn't matter how strong Piper was or wasn't, the point was she put her everything into this single strike.

There was a tangible disruption in the entire scene, everyone looked over, eyes widened trying to ascertain how could they miss the fraction of a second when the chief had his face destroyed. Shouting and growling started up a few heartbeats later, Piper poking forward with the stick this time, jolting a guard. However, the next frame burned itself into my memory for the rest of my life. The slaver standing next to the one stricken and twitching already had his pistol out, shooting. I saw a bloody explosion on Piper's back, the bullet going through her. I'd beaten the phrase about my heart stopping to death already, but this time I really lost it. I yelled out her name, falling to my knees, behind her, catching.. well putting myself between the floor and her. I'm not sure what happened next, a darkskin bulled into the one who fired, and they banged into the bars of the cage. However, I think the one Piper poked fell into the doorway, the remaining guards missed their first chance to close the gate, have the magnetic seal engage and kill this riot off before it started. And they didn't get another one. People were pouring into the opening from our side, the remaining slavers were quickly trampled and struck down. My focus fell onto Piper in my arms, the bloody hole on her, as we both canted towards the floor...

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~17~ :: Valkyre..._


	17. Valkyre

_Author's Note :: Sorry for the delay, first week of finals was too much fun._

**_._**

**Chapter ~17~ :: Valkyre**

**.**

Gunshots were so loud in the hall surrounded on all sides by metal, the ringing in my ears wouldn't fade for hours. I didn't see anything after the fighting left the immediate area in front of the bars, but that was more than enough. The guards there were knocked down and subsequently shot by the darkskins. They obviously knew their way around those weapons. I'd imagine they have similar technology, if not exactly the same. The shots were point blank... The sound though.., the bangs couldn't be loud enough, last long enough to cover that of the bullet piercing through skull. There is a quality to that noise, something that stays with you for a long time. The clashes only became more frequent as they got out of sight, the outbreak escalating into an all-out battle on board. These weapons had no stun settings, yet at the time I paid no mind. The slavers were only getting what was coming to them.

Piper's state occupied my focus. She had ugly, purple contusions on her face, she was savagely beaten and now, shot. The bullet went through, I'm not familiar enough with such weapons to know if that's better or worse, all I knew was she was bleeding excessively. By the time I got out from under her and laid her down on the floor I was already half covered in her blood. It's all a haze, the sight of her injury, even the rest of her had me in shock. The exit wound was much worse, I ripped off my shirt and balled it up, shoving it under her. The puncture on her front side was almost a perfect circle, blood oozing from it rythmically.

I kept calling her name, but she wasn't doing much of anything, spasms were scouring through her from time to time. She was beaten so badly I don't think she could've opened her eyes properly even if she wanted to. Most of the men left the arena, the women stayed. One of them had the sense to bring me another rag, so I could push it on her wound, then propped against the wall and watched in terror. Part of me would have wanted to do nothing more than that as well, but I had to keep her alive. I had to believe that help was on the way. I'm no doctor, but I was absolutely certain she needed surgery, the gel wouldn't do much here, even if we had it.

Suddenly, she became more active, breaking out heaving a few times, squirming.  
\- " Piper! I'm here! " - I leaned over her more, trying to make her look at me.  
\- " Captain..! " - she lifted a hand, I switched mine holding the cloth so I could grab it.  
\- " I'm here, you're going to be okay! "  
\- " I don... " - she coughed up blood, my eyes were watering, my hopes faltering.. - " think so... "  
\- " You did it, help is on the way! You'll be okay! "  
\- " Cap.. " - she coughed again...  
\- " Shhh..! " - I fondled the cheek that was less red and swollen - " Don't talk, just keep grabbing my hand, okay?! "  
Uttering a few guttural moans she squirmed, I tried to force her to keep steady, while turning to the frozen bystanders - " We need water! "  
I didn't think they gave her any since taking her... The women however, were just staring like a deer in headlights.  
\- " BRING WATER! " - they seemed reluctant, unsure - " I don't care how, just do it! "  
Two of them took off finally. As I turned back to Piper I tried to get closer to her somehow, moving my knees. That's when I noticed the puddle of blood collecting underneath her. My shirt was completely soaked already. I immediately knew why, the bullet must've ruptured a substantial artery... Hydration isn't going to help here... I tried to reposition the fabric, push harder from both sides, trying to hold her hand at the same time, talk to her.  
I have no idea how much time has passed, but there was less and less strength in her grip, until there was nothing at all. Her skin was pale...  
\- " Piper! " - I tried, but.. " - PIPER! " - there was no response... I squeezed her hand tightly but.., nothing.  
The worst part was I knew exactly what was happening. I just couldn't believe it was happening to her. Loosing too much blood triggers a catasthropic failure in the circulatory system, and the body simply shuts down. There is no handheld gadget, no hypospray that can fix this. Nothing can fix death.

Leaning over her I kept squeezing her numb hand, mumbling incoherent things, crying. I didn't notice what was going on around me, until I felt a hand touching my shoulder. Shuddering I flinched, a figure was kneeling on her other side, brightly shining, elaborate holographics extending from his glove. I looked up, there were more of them, spotless uniforms on all, the kind we haven't seen since a long time. For a moment I thought I'd be the one dying, and I was simply seeing things.  
\- " Who are you.. " - I barely heard my own voice.  
\- " We are here to help.. " - He pushed me further away, I couldn't quite see his face, thanks to the helmet with a reflective mesh concealing the eyes. He placed some sort of small knob on my skin, it started beeping, the holographics lighting up everything too brightly, I couldn't really see.  
\- " You have to save her! "  
\- " We are. " - if there was reassurance in his voice, I was immune to it. But then Piper disappeared in a dazzling haze, the man stood up, and then the world around me disappeared in the same blinding flurry of zigzagging lights.

Being used to Starfleet transporters doesn't prepare you for an experience like this. Next time I could see anything resembling a real world, I was staring at a ceiling. I tried to get up, but I was pushed down by this... nurse or something. It was bright, everything dazzling, holograms surrounding the bed I was on.  
\- " Piper! " - I tried reaching for the figure, I thought she was Valorian, like that woman in the cell, but there was an odd pricking sensation, all around the back of my neck, and everything went blank.

**« std::endl;**

When I came to, and once I became fairly certain I was still alive, I snapped up, a hand appearing on my shoulder.  
\- " Easy... " - I wasn't pushed back this time, I propped myself on my hands, looking around, adjusting to the light.  
\- " Where am I? "  
\- " You are on board the Vetal, a vessel of the Valorian Armed Forces. You are safe. "  
This room, likely the whole ship appeared to be the complete opposite of the previous one, that was enough for me. Everything was sparkling clean, reminiscent of Voyager, but more colorful and brighter. There were holograms all around, all sorts of readouts, evidence of advanced technology in abundance.  
\- " Piper.., " - I twitched, suddenly out of breath - " The woman with me.. "  
\- " We are treating her. "  
\- " She's not dead?! "  
\- " No. "  
I leaned forward, burying my face in my hands, feeling such a weight roll off me. The few moments I spent that way, breathing and attempting to calm down, I've realized I was wearing a shirt, comfortable one too. I felt clean and pleasant, none of the random pains from the cuts and contusions I've gathered in the past days present.  
\- " Will she... "  
\- " Two hours have passed since we've picked you up. She is still in critical condition. "  
Trying to get off the bed, I was stopped.  
\- " I can't let you see her. "  
\- " Why? " - this was the first time I bothered to look at this man. He was wearing a plain garment, actually looked like a dress in some ways, I guessed doctor's uniform.  
\- " She is in a sealed critical restoration unit, surrounded by medics from all sides, the last thing they need there, as I'm sure you understand, is you. "  
I snivelled, blinking a few times, I actually appreciated him giving a straight and concise answer.  
\- " Will she be okay? "  
\- " In all likelihood, yes. "  
\- " How, I m.. y.. "  
\- " Our medical technology is rather advanced. "  
\- " Yes, I can see that. It's also advanced where I come from. What is a critical restoration unit? "  
\- " We use it on troops incurring catasthropic physical damage. It can repair eviscerations, bullet wounds, reattach limbs, even regrow them in sufficiently extreme cases. "  
I swallowed.  
\- " The doctors were able to replicate a suitable replacement for her blood quick enough, and restore vital functions. The device is made for our species, so her treatment requires constant supervision, but as far as I know they are making progress. "  
\- " I thought energy weapons were much more dangerous than bullets... "  
\- " Well, a bullet will never disintegrate someone, but they can cause havoc all the same. The Rakaav use explosive ammunition. Not explosive as in actual payload in the bullet, but its structure is designed such that it opens up after impact, fractures even. But that's neither here nor there. " - he put a hand on my shoulder - " We are doing everything we can. I have every cofidence my colleagues will be able to heal her. "  
I nodded, several times.., calm coming slightly easier to me now. I was still in pieces about that happened to her, but at least all the severe misconducts didn't cost her her life. A short while passed before he spoke again.  
\- " Captain Renar wishes to see you, if you're feeling up to it. "

**« std::endl;**

I was escorted through clean corridors, fancy glass doors spinning out of the way, holographic displays all over the place, providing decorations on the bulkheads, serving as screens elsewhere. The Valorians seemed on par with the Federation in terms of technology. Why would they let barbarians like the Rakaav terrorize their people? Figured I would find out soon enough. My journey ended in a moderately sized room, a big hunk of a desk in its center. My counterpart's ready room I wagered. More holograms on the wall behind it, detailing a gridlike view of the entire vessel. Judging from the amount of rooms and extrapolating the distance between the doors I passed and the same distances on the graphic, it was bigger than Voyager, more than twenty decks. First time I could actually look out a window, we were at warp. The man in front of me appeared to be about my age, a very sharp, flattened military haircut, broad shoulders and the entire set. The distinguishing item on him was an extra layer of decorative padding on one of his shoulders. Their uniforms were elaborate, but not overly sumptous.

\- " Welcome on board the Vetal! " - he offered, once the help was gone - " I am Captain Renar. " - he pointed to the seat, so I went.  
\- " Kathryn Janeway. " - not exactly sure what made me dispense with the rank, if I wanted to be honest I really didn't feel like a captain.  
\- " Can I offer you a drink? "  
\- " Something pleasant... " - I sat down - " Please. " - the chair felt like heaven. The cushions were so soft... or maybe I became much too used to harshness these past days.  
\- " If you haven't been made aware already... " - he turned from a replicator station, or at least something that seemed to be deceptively similar to one of our such stations, with two cups of... well he didn't say, I'd say tea - " You are our guest here, you are free to take, or refuse our help. "  
\- " I'd rather take it if it's all the same to you. " - I reached for my cup, giving him a smile. They could almost pass for humans based on their looks, if not for this certain.. sharpness in their features. Their noses, their jawline, their brows.., every protrusion ended in a finer edge, a finer tip. Also, Tuvok had nothing on their eyebrows. The captain had a beard too... I wouldn't call it a beard though, these sharp lines of hair, I'm sure there was a name for such a configuration in English too, but I'd simply call it stupid.  
\- " Of course.. " - he smiled, sitting down himself.  
\- " If you don't mind.., one of your kind mentioned you and the Rakaav were from the same interstellar power. This.. " - I looked around again, the ship's beatiful cream colored bulkheads and deep red, sometimes brown decorations were quite pretty - " isn't what I expected. "

\- " Yes... " - he nodded, leaning back - " We are the Valorians of the Valore Federacy. Unlike the name would perhaps suggest, we grant a great deal of... liberties to the nations within our fold. We, indeed, are much more advanced, on many fronts, than most of them. While we do help them out, we are not sharing technology explicitly, we protect them from outside forces and let them evolve and prosper by their own terms. The Rakaav, who captured you, they are a violent race, exceedingly eager to enslave other species. We have the armada to wipe out or vanquish their civilization, but our ethical values would never allow such an atrocity. While I agree with this most of the time, when we do capture such ships, free innocent victims like yourself, my beliefs falter. " - his voice was amiable, not as deep as one would expect from a captain, what I deduced until this point was: he was a nice man. That didn't make me any less angry.  
\- " You could at least police them! "

\- " Yes. Believe me, I wish things were different, but as I'm sure you can imagine issues like this are the hotpocket of politics on my world, and have been for decades. When we lash out, enforce our laws and superioirity, the public is exposed to the horrors of war and the breakdown of personal freedoms. The Armed Forces are painted as the unstoppable warmachine taking from the other races what little they have. So the efforts are halted, we retreat. A more peaceful situation lasts maybe a month, then its anarchy again. Another few months later, Valorian citizens get into trouble, they are brutalized or killed, that's in the news for months. Since we do not respond with the proper force, the raids become more frequent, more vicious, then the public opinion shifts. We are deployed. At first everyone is happy, since the attacks almost completely cease. I will leave it to your imagination what happens next. "  
\- " So it is mere luck you are in a period now where they are prosecuted? "

\- " Currently, we are in a period where we are trying really, really hard to preserve a more lasting peace. However, slavery is outlawed in the Federacy, completely, no exceptions. This rule has been enacted only five years ago into the constitution, but according to our customs, that's where it will stay for as long as there is a Valore Federacy. As a result, the grey area of the Rakaav's slave trafficking has been completely blackened and condemned. This is a law that will never change, so we are sanctioned to actively prosecute whoever breaks it. However, searching one of their ships without cause is... problematic. "  
\- " You are severly diminished by your own bureocracy... "  
\- " That is entirely too correct I'm afraid. Anyway, since this Feren character, had the sense to send out a distress call, we could engage. " - he stood up, hogging his head - " On behalf of the Valore Federacy, please accept our most sincere apology about the atrocities you have suffered in our space. We shall do everything in our power to make it up to you. "

I could have stood up, smiled, tipped my head and told him thank you. I'm sure I would've, if all that happened to Piper was perhaps tripping and scraping her knee. But under the circumstances, a glance along the room and a weak nod was all I gave him... Even though I appreciated his angle, his predicament on all this. The ideals they as Valorans tried to uphold were admirable. That was no consolation whatsoever for me at the time though.  
\- " What will become of them? The Rakaav you captured? "  
He sat back down - " I would have them thrown into a pit and completely forgotten about. But I'm afraid they will be sentenced to life in prison. "  
\- " You don't think that's severe enough? "  
\- " Thankfully, you haven't had time to experience this, but they keep women as property, toys.., for pleasure. They beat them, rape them, give them mind altering drugs until they accept their new reality. The fact that our mighty Federacy is incapable of sentencing them to die is nothing but a show of weakness. " - he shrugged, changing his tone - " In this prison, the other inmates will know why they are there. What they took part in. Their cells will turn into their personal hell for the rest of their lives. I don't pity them, not for a second... But I can't help but wonder, isn't the state supposed to settle such matters, and be done with it? Politics, huh? " - shrugging, he snickered callously - " They say it's an art of compromise. I fail to see the mention of honor, or justice in that phrase. " - he shifted in his seat, shaking his head - " However, I'm merely soldier, perhaps I see it all wrong. "

I didn't pay all that much attention to his rambling, not after it became obvious how he feels about them, and what will happen to them. Inadvertently my mind wandered to my memories of the heptagon, then of course there was Piper, in their medical bay somewhere, on the brink of death. I already accepted their promise about doing everything they can for her, the less I thought about it the better. It was impossible not to think about it of course. At least I knew what to tell her if she ever asks what happened to the rest of the Rakaav. They were either dead, or worse. My Federation upbringing always prevented me from passing irrevocable judgment upon people, regardless of what they've done. But these slavers? No Federation dogma could ever convince me they shouldn't have a special pit of hell reserved for them. People who knowingly and willingly brutalize and enslave, destroy the lives of others deserve to.. to be wiped off the face of the universe. I wished I could've seen this down on the planet. Maybe then Piper wouldn't have gone through what she did.

\- " If I may ask, where are you from? We are not familiar with your species. " - the officer spoke again... I guess my silent contemplation must've taken a while. My heart felt as if it was surrounded by bed of needles from all sides everytime I thought of Piper. Which was about every other nanosecond. Anyway.., had to keep appearances.  
\- " We are from the United Federation of Planets, a vast interstellar power, 45.000 lightyears from here. "  
\- " 45.000? " - he narrowed his gaze.  
\- " It's a long story. " - I sighed, not this again - " We were transported to this side of the galaxy against our will. If you were serious about helping us, you could start by contacting our ship. "  
\- " Of course. How shall we locate them? "  
\- " Well uhm... the planet we crashed on was about 12 lightyears from its last known position. "  
The Commander stayed still, only his eyes indicating deep thought - " You've crashed? The half-destroyed shuttle in the hold was your ship? "  
\- " One of our shuttlecraft. "  
\- " How did you travel 12 lightyears in that? "  
\- " We didn't. Or... rather, I don't know. ... We were caught in an anomaly, I'm not sure what, and flung across that distance, we have no idea... "  
\- " The subspace flowfield. "  
\- " Excuse me? "

\- " At the edge of our space, there is this, region, where the... shall we say, barrier, between our universe and subspace seems to be less substantial. There is a kind of, uhm, I'm sorry, I'm a soldier, not an expert on subspace phenomena. Suffice it to say, there is a particle turbulence, across a great many subspace layers, an instance of this intersecting into normal space is what we call a subspace flowfield, capable of sucking in interstellar dust or vessels, like a wormhole, and depositing them somewhere else. I'm quite certain that's what must've happened to you. "  
\- " You could have warnings about this around the area. "  
\- " Yes. Well, I have no answer for that. The existence of this flowfield is common knowledge in this area, you obviously haven't crossed through it from our end, it stands to reason that the people who should've warned you were the ones on the other side. "  
Well, he was right about that. We were so ready to grant shoreleave to half of Voyager in the Nelpaka system - where we were before this all started - never hearing about a subspace flowfield from anyone there.  
\- " Unfortunately " - he continued - " We are heading the opposite direction, to Algalon. "  
\- " Algalon? "  
\- " Our ancestral planet, the central of our civilization. However, I will order one of our ships to head back, and try to look for yours... I assume, they are looking for you. "  
\- " They most certainly are, I am their Captain. "  
\- " Oh. Well, Captain, if you could give us something to identify them with, I will make sure they are found and apprised of your situation, notifying you immediately when we are successful. "  
I liked the way he said when, not if.

\- " What will we be doing until then? "  
\- " Enjoying our hospitality at Algalon, if you'll accept it. "  
I handled the accepting with a simple nod - " I'd appreciate if they would be told about this subspace flowfield too. "  
Not sure why I wasn't protesting, demanded we are to be taken directly to Voyager. Somehow I didn't find myself keen on returning just yet. I had every confidence they were alright. Even if we go with their ships the most I could do is be on the other end of a communication channel, still days apart. Then there was the real truth to my decision too, I wanted to... I wanted to fix things, get everything concerning Piper back into order, come down from all this craziness. If a random chair on their vessel was this comfortable I couldn't imagine their planet much worse.  
\- " Of course. The exact configuration of the anomalies is in a constant shift though, only our science vessels can plot a safe course across, I'm.. "  
\- " If your science vessels can, then my ship can as well. "  
\- " Are you certain, I.. "  
\- " Quite certain. "  
\- " In that case, we will provide them with the coordinates of Algalon. "  
\- " Should I be worried? Are these.. Rakaav or such preying on ships as well? "  
\- " I seriously doubt anyone would fly into the flowfields, and once your ship is through they will be escorted by the Armed Forces. I can personally vouch for their safety while in our space. "

* * *

_._

_Continues in Chapter ~18~ :: Processing..._


	18. Processing

_Author's Note :: Let's see if I can earn that 'romance' tag in the remaining chapters. (Remaining doesn't mean the next two, we're about halfway here...)_

**_._**

**Chapter ~18~ :: Processing**

**.**

I've given Captain Renar everything they needed to be able to contact Voyager, fully invested in the notion that they will find them. The flowfields as it turned out, have the tendency to disrupt subspace communications, so contact with the people on the other side isn't as trivial as one would like it to be, but I was assured about a dozen times they would succeed. I honestly felt they wanted to do right by us, and I had faith in my own people as well. In fact I was half expecting the Vetal to be hailed any moment, the surprise visitors inquiring about us.

Piper would be in recovery for perhaps even an entire day, so my courteous hosts provided quarters for me, for the time being. I had a meal there, washed, of course, I was mysteriously cleaned during my unconscious moments, but doing it myself provided much needed reassurance I was still in one piece. No thanks to myself, though... Every time I thought about Piper I wanted to curl up into a ball and sob. The things they must've put her through... In some ways I dreaded the moment she would awaken, and be forced to face what transpired. As for the injuries I incurred during all of this, they were nowhere to be found. Valorian medical technology may have surpassed our own, I felt a slight numbness from time to time, but that's it. Instead of the bruises and cuts, my skin felt more velvety than it used to, and they barely treated me for a couple of hours.

I was very much unable to sit around in the room they gave me, in spite of it being quite pleasant. Sometimes I wondered if everything really had to be quite so grey on Voyager, and ships like this reinforced this line of thinking considerably. My quarters there might be more spacious, but it was so much more colourful here. These holograms everywhere, they seemed obsessed with the technology. I've figured out rather rapidly that all the 'lights' in my room were in fact holographic, and I could pick between several hundred configurations of them 'hanging' from the ceiling or floating about, or providing ambient lighting from 'everywhere' in the room. Anyway, not even that would provide any suitable distraction, I was much too preoccupied with Piper than to indulge my curiosity about the Valorians.

I returned to what I would call a lobby of sorts. The liberated captives went through processing here, just like I did. Except my procedure seemed to have been expedited to a great extent. Everyone else seemed to have been from a species part of the Valore Federacy, and I gathered there were lots of legal concerns involved in this 'rescue'. Money seemed to play a central role in everything around here, so that wasn't entirely surprising. I must've been aimlessly sitting around here for hours. Hoping for news about Piper every time the guards came in, but it was always just about some pleasantries for another bunch of people. Never me. At least I had all the time in the world to eavesdrop on all the conversations. Found it quite fascinating, certainly a better way of getting to know a people than listening to what their officials have to say. Officials invariably only have the best things to say.

Then finally, the Captain walked in, my eyes immediately settling upon him. He didn't say anything, only motioning for me to join him.  
\- " Your companion has been released from the restoration unit.., I thought you might like to see her. " - he clarified, once we were out of the hall.  
\- " Of course... " - I breathed, damn near stumbling into the nearest bulkhead, suddenly loosing my balance for a moment. The anticipation, the realization that she was indeed alive seemed to only strike me properly in these moments. I've spent the walk over to the medical ward in a daze.  
We've entered different chambers than where I was treated, eventually entering a fairly large, circular room. On one side, a sizeable, egg-shaped capsule lay open, it felt like every single tube or wire on the entire ship either went into its underside, or the topside hovering above. The medical bay had an abundance of holographic screens as it was, this room had _nothing bu_t holographic screens. I wagered the Valorians knew more about Naraahl physiology now than what's in Voyager's records. A small group of people were busy cleaning the capsule, and several other... things next to it, tubes, larger pieces of jelly-like fabric, etc.

On the other side, a bed, and a more official looking person next to it. A nurse stepped away as we approached. The man looked tired, first and foremost.  
\- " Doctor, " - Renar started - " this is Captain Kathryn Janeway, your patient is her crew member. " - he turned to me briefly - " Captain, this is Doctor Linal, unless I'm mistaken he was in charge of her care since the beginning. "  
He nodded courteously, but his tiredness was apparent, I didn't blame him. I tipped my head too:  
\- " Doctor.. " - then, as if against this burning sensation on my cheek I turned fully toward the bed.  
She was really there. Intact.  
Piper was below a see-through, mesh cover, colourful graphics inside it, no doubt even more medical readouts. Her body underneath was covered in a skintight white suit, much like Seven's biosuit, if even more seamless. Her face was glistening, some sort of cream on it. Those long blonde locks were spread out straight in every direction over her pillow. I couldn't really say or do anything, other than empty staring, my brain trying resolve the differences between the last memories I had of her on the ship, and her current state...

\- " The prognosis, Doctor? " - Renar asked eventually.  
\- " Full recovery. There shouldn't be any lasting ailments. "  
\- " Very good. " - I sensed him jittering about - " I'll leave you to it then. "  
I turned to bid him goodbye, then settled on Linal - " Thank you... " - the words barely came ut, I had to clear my throat - " Thank you for saving her doctor. "  
He tipped his head graciously, blinking slowly.  
\- " Could you.. " - I folded my arms, hogging my head - " Uhm.. what did they do to her? "  
I had my ideas, but I had to know. I had to know what she endured because of me.  
\- " I ugh.., I'm not sure I should discuss that. "  
\- " I'm her commanding officer, you can tell me. " - that was a bit of a stretch, but I'd worry about that later.

The doctor swallowed hard, taking a half a step away, not facing me directly - " She's been brutalized. Worse than what's usually expected, even from the Rakaav. They've.. I.. Captain, " - he took a deep breath - " I would rather not imagine what they must've done to her, or what they thought it would accomplish. The point is, we were able to repair virtually all the damage. Some of her injuries were starting to get infected, but we could simply remove them entirely, since her physiology seems to respond excellently to our grafts. If her body can keep this up, she might be completely healed by the time we reach Algalon. On the outside, anyway. "  
He sighed, along with me. I turned toward Piper, my mind wiped clean by a profound sorrow. The only positive thing remaining was the fact that at least we weren't dead. That could allow me to dismiss many other things, if they would have happened to someone else. They did, they happened to Piper, but... my heart was braking for her. Literally, there was this sinking void where it should've been beating.

\- " I've been vaguely informed about what took place on the ship. I can't imagine the strength of will it took to keep fighting them, to create the opportunity for the escape. But uhm.., I'm no psychiatrist, nevertheless I sincerely doubt she will have the same strength when she wakes up. With the immediate threat vanished, I predict it will be the first time she can even begin to truly process what's transpired. There is no machine I know of that could help her with that. I can contact counsellors on Algalon if... "  
\- " I'll be here. " - I interrupted, suddenly glancing at him - " No counsellors. "  
He nodded silently. The seconds kept rolling before he continued - " I've also identified a severe chemical imbalance in her neural system. "  
\- " A chemical imbalance? " - I turned right back to him again, finally something to divert my attention from the dire sorrows and primal rage convulsing inside me, if but for a moment.  
\- " Her internal physiology is very different, I can't be certain what caused it originally, but I do not suspect the TL4. Therefoe.., this is most assuredly a mere temporary fix, but parts of her brain are no longer in a state of constant overstimulation. "  
I must've made a few tell-tale expressions, because he tilted his head.  
\- " Has this happened before? "  
\- " No.. " - I shook my head - " I'm not sure... "  
\- " You've said you are her commanding officer. "  
\- " Yes. " - the suggestion wasn't lost on me - " This is no excuse, but she is the only one of her kind I've ever actually met. Where we are from.., she's from a neighbouring empire, who... let's say don't take kindly to people who leave their territory. "  
\- " I see. "  
\- " I've... went through a few revelations about her these past few days... So I have an idea about that.., chemical imbalance. "  
\- " I hope you don't think it shouldn't have been corrected. "  
\- " No. Not at all. It's just... she might be... perhaps even more vulnerable when she wakes up. "  
He nodded quietly again, spending another several seconds gazing at her - " We are no longer rationing sedatives into her system, the current dose should clear in a few hours. You're welcome to wait in.. " - he started to point somewhere outside this alcove.  
\- " I'd like to stay right here. " - I grabbed the edge of the bed - " If possible. "  
\- " Of course. " - he tipped his head graciously - " The healing process might be hasty, but it's putting an extreme strain on her body, she will needs lots of rest, and she will likely feel famished in the next few days, even directly after eating. "  
\- " You know.. " - my lips curved into a smile for a split second - " Before this... _subspace flowfield_ the Commander has told me about, threw us off course, we were headed for a tropical resort, with spas and massage tables, the only thing to worry about: how much leisuring we could fit between eating and sleeping. "  
\- " Sounds exactly like what I would recommend now. I'll make the necessary arrangements. "  
_~What?~_ \- " Hmm? I.. I didn't mean to.. "  
\- " Oh not at all. I don't have a rank in the armed forces, nor am I a politician, but I can promise you, the Valore Federacy shall spare you nothing while you are staying with us. "  
_~Especially after what happened~_ he didn't say it, yet it was all but there. Except it didn't happen to us, it happened to Piper. Nothing happened to me.., Piper went through hell while I was basically vacationing. I hated this so much...

We nodded at each other, then he left. I wasn't about to protest and be modest. To hell with that. We.., _she_ has earned whatever they would give us, the hard way. I fetched the chair by the wall, put it next to the bed, settled in. They put up a.., can you guess - holographic barrier around the immediate area, allowing privacy while the nurses kept fixing and cleaning their gadgets. I wanted to caress her cheek, but I didn't want to screw up that jelly-like cream they put on her... She seemed to be at peace, no marks on her face, only those beautiful spots gracing her bright skin. I'm not sure when, or how, but I've dozed off.

**« std::endl;**

I awoke feeling movement, Piper whimpered quietly. In my own tiredness I've fallen asleep leaning onto the bed from my chair.  
\- " Piper..! " - I exclaimed quietly, getting the hair out of my face, springing up and kicking the chair away.  
\- " Captain.. " - she whispered, her eyes barely open - " What happened? "  
\- " We were rescued. "  
\- " This isn't Voyager.. "  
\- " It's a Valorian vessel. Feren succeeded in summoning the cavalry. "  
She hmm-ed quietly, wetting her lips, squirming a few centimetres across most of her body.  
\- " Where are they taking us? "  
\- " Relax, they are friendly, and very remorseful. We might just get the shoreleave we wanted. "  
She nodded, although remained unconvinced if I wanted to risk an opinion. Moving her hands slowly, she brought them under the see-through sheets, displaying a mostly orangish-reddish grid across most of her, keeping her warm. I knew because I realized I've become sweaty, leaning onto it.  
\- " There was a hole inside me... "  
\- " They possess technology capable of regrowing tissue at an accelerated rate, also the Vigor of Kav'Raahl seems to be making things easier. " - her expression indicated some level of understanding, but not much else - " How do you feel? "  
Instead of a proper reply, she barely shook her head, her eyes unfocused, zigzagging from point to point on the ceiling. They've finally settled on mine as I leaned more above her, touching her face lightly, realizing the cream had vanished.  
\- " Numb... "  
\- " I hope I'm not intruding. " - the doctor came in, attaching an instrument to the bed's holographics, starting to scan her I'd guess.  
Piper glared at him with wide eyes for a short while - " There were people like you on the ship... "  
\- " Yes. We are called Valorians. A lot of my kin owe you their freedom. "  
\- " How.. I thought I would die, I was... fairly certain actually... "  
\- " We were able to get to you just in time. Your body responds extremely well to our grafting techniques. "  
\- " So you uhm.., Put something in.., like the hole? "  
\- " Basically... By now it is indistinguishable from your tissue. "  
\- " How long was I out? "  
\- " About twenty hours. " - I could finally interject.  
Piper sighed - " I'm so hungry... "  
\- " Yes.., that was to be expected. " - he smiled.

After a bit of an exchange about how she shouldn't get up, it has been established that a visit to the ship's Messhall wouldn't be such a horrible idea. She could've been fed here of course, but insisted on leaving the bed, somehow I wasn't surprised. They made it absolutely clear however, she must return immediately after.

A good twenty minutes later we were inside the local version of a turbolift, I took a better look at her. My scans were disheartening. She seemed... oddly apathetic, not at all what I was used to from her. She barely said a word, her arms folded, fists clenched, glaring at the floor almost exclusively in that plain gown and slacks attire they gave her. It actually made her look sicker. Physical pain wouldn't be able to do this to her...  
\- " Are you all right? " - dumb question, but have to start somewhere.  
Staring at this random point on the closed doors she nodded vaguely. Maybe I should've asked a non-binary question. I stepped a little closer, trying to get her to look at me by leaning in a bit, to no avail.  
\- " They can bring food to your bed if you'd rather lay down... "  
\- " No... "  
\- " Are you sure? You seem dizzy? "  
\- " Numb. " - she was still keeping her gaze fixed, her answer low and flat, none of that raspy and sexy tone which used to make me weak in the knees - " I just feel numb. "  
I caressed her shoulder gently, taking a breath to say something, but she was faster to continue:  
\- " I've never been back home you know. "  
\- " Home..? "  
\- " Syr'Thuul, my planet. The last time I saw it I was tucked away on a transport, gripping a datarod... " - she finally looked at me - " with a filled out application for Federation asylum. " - taking a long pause, her eyes were conveying such woe... - " I'll probably never see it again. "  
\- " Piper... " - the lift has arrived, the door rolling open, she moved immediately, not so quickly of course, but I had to take a leap to catch up with her - " Voyager's going to find us, then.. "  
\- " Unless these people decide they shouldn't. "  
\- " I think we can trust them. "  
\- " I don't trust anyone. "  
\- " Do you trust me? "  
\- " No. "

I felt like I was stabbed, the breath chilled into me. Her answer was so simple, indifferent. I had the sense to know that whatever they put her through on the slaveship would likely cause her to behave exactly like this. Add to that the fact her brain chemistry has been wiped clean, the apparent immediate side effect being even lower mood, disconnection, utter lack of passion. Couldn't be sure about all this of course, but it seemed a theory fitting all the facts in my mind. None of that made her statement hurt any less though. I remembered all the things she shouted at me back on the planet, ever since the moment our predicament became excessively terrible.

First when the doctor told me about the chemical imbalance I felt glad, taking it as an explanation of her behaviour. Why yes, that's what it was, still true, but I arrived at the bitter realization that it didn't make her say things she didn't mean. In actuality, the way she truly felt was in all likelihood the ONLY thing she could say, her self-censorship and courtesy gone due to her state of mind. I wasn't about to rethink my entire time as a Captain, but being faced with my past decisions in such an unadulterated way managed to put a crack in my mirror, as it were.

No more words were uttered until we reached the mess. If I could have Voyager retrofitted with pointless upgrades, rolling glass doors would be one of them, so cool. This hall, like all other had a sense of fanciness to it, holographics boosting the décor to the extremes. Other than that, the room was very much reminiscent of the one on Voyager, except much larger. Long counters displaying the food lined one side entirely, an army of tables everywhere else. Plenty of officers sitting around, they were at about half load. It was still reasonably quiet, these people continued to make a good impression on me.

Piper gravitated toward one of the more secluded spots, I wasn't sure we could sit there, but the resident Neelix didn't end up saying anything.  
\- " Can I interest you in our specials for today? " - he approached just after we sat down.  
\- " How many have meat in them? " - Piper asked abruptly.  
\- " Two. " - he was a bit befuddled, judging by his expression.  
\- " Then I'll have one of each. "  
\- " Hmm. As for beverages, may I recom.. "  
\- " Do you have milk? "  
\- " ... Milk? "  
\- " Yes. Milk. " - Piper was.. less than courteous I'd say - " From animals, plants, whatever. "  
\- " Well.. Rikhet milk is the most popular one on Algalon... And from the plant-based variety we carry Nul, a blend of several... "  
\- " One of each then. "  
\- " Next to your meal? "  
\- " Yes. "  
\- " No offence, but I'm not certain tha.. "  
\- " _I'm certain for you_. I want milk. I want them warm. In two tall mugs. " - her tone left no possibility for reconsideration.  
\- " Very well. " - he turned to me...  
I quickly sent him on his way, while their conversation was taking place I fiddled with this holographic gadget on the table, I could pull up the menu on it. There were pictures of the food there, so I could pick one on face value. And the whatever-wine he recommended for it sounded perfect enough for me.  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " I don't feel very well. " - she interrupted me immediately, rubbing her forehead - " Just leave me alone, would you? "  
My heart was already broken, so I thought what the hell, why give up here when I still had ways to be insulted.  
\- " If there's anything I can.. "  
\- " There isn't. " - she glanced at me briefly - " There ain't a damn thing you can do. "  
\- " I regret ... "  
\- " What? The slavers dying? "  
\- " No, Piper. I hate what happened to you... I feel responsible for it. "  
\- " Maybe because you are. "  
\- " ... Whatever happened to those people they deserved worse. "  
She chuckled, disillusioned and sarcastic, shaking her head - " What are you, in love with me or something?! " - my blood chilled at that, my brows going up - " You don't have to pretend you are someone else for me, okay? "  
\- " I'm not pretending.. "  
\- " Yes, you are. Killing people who deserve it is not the Starfleet way of handling things. If you'd mean what you say you'd have done something on that fucking ship already! "  
Our meals have arrived. I received a large plate, Piper an entire platter filled to the brim with gourmet foodstuffs. My appetite was nowhere to be found though.  
\- " You can't... Piper, I.. "  
\- " Let me eat please. "  
\- " Do you want me to leave? "  
\- " I don't care what you do.., just be quiet about it. "  
Swallowing hard, my throat hurting from holding back the sobbing, I pushed my chair out. - " Excuse me... "

I left, without looking her way or hearing anything. My tears were rolling by the time I got to the corridor. Not paying attention, I almost bumped into dr. Linal.  
\- " Captain.., something wrong with the food? "  
\- " No... " - I barely uttered, trying to walk past him. But he reached for my arm.  
\- " Did... she say something? "  
I guess my face told tales and tales about my emotional condition - " She's upset. "  
\- " Considering what has happened to her, that was to be expected. "  
\- " She blames me... " - I shook my head - " What exactly, I mean... you've never actually told me what happened to her. "  
Linal looked up and down the corridor, eventually bumping me into a shallow corner formed by one of the structural beams on the bulkheads.  
\- " She was beaten and raped. " - he whispered.  
I sighed - " Yes, I've gathered as much. _But what did they do to her?_ I have to know. "  
\- " I'm not sure.. "  
\- " _I have to know._ "  
It was his turn to sigh heavily, lean ever further into the alcove - " As I'm sure you know, there is only one place on her body they could do that. The damage was extensive, she was likely trying to fight them, only making it worse. But even so, I'm as aware of Rakaav genitalia as I absolutely have to be, their... dimensions are not able to cause damage to such an extent. They've likely used other.. things. Evidently, they were also.. jealous of her, since her... penis had been mutilated. "  
\- " What?! "  
\- " Oh it's not... quite so severe.. as the word. Only the skin was damaged, but.. they've used.. chains, most likely, to.. well to wrap around it and pull. "  
I covered my face with both hands, shaking.  
\- " I don't think I need to continue. " - he sighed bitterly - " As I've said, we were able to repair the physical damage, there shouldn't be any lasting effects. "  
I gave him the look.  
\- " Yes, I realize that's not good enough at this point, considering her mental state, but I'm sure you will agree, irrevocable damage to her body would actually make things worse. "  
Didn't really see how things could be worse, however, his point was appreciated.

**« std::endl;**

Piper was returned to a different bed right after eating, falling asleep not much later. Once I confirmed that, I went back for my meal. The only reason I didn't cry through the whole thing were the people at other tables. I've never considered myself the sobbing type, however I felt so alone and so powerless this time, there was nothing else to do. There was such an anger in me, but it was all over and done with, left with no way to help the situation, the anger couldn't be channelled anywhere. That's what had me trembling, my eyes wet, the excruciating realization that the events of the past days had already culminated into one of the worst possible outcomes, the time to prevent or change any of it has passed. As a Captain I had to be used to the unfortunate fact that my decisions affect a great many others as well, never only me. In this case however, being used to something didn't make it easier. Her hostility felt so profoundly terrible, I didn't know how to fix things between us. Not in the sense of seeing each other naked, not even as captain and crew member, quite simply just as two people. What do I say to her? Do I even have to say anything? Should I even _get to _say anything?

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~19~ :: Algalon ..._


	19. Algalon

**Chapter ~19~ :: Algalon**

**.**

The Valorians were doing everything to accommodate us, had to give 'em that. Our stuff has been neatly packaged, and we were delivered to one of the most coveted tourist destinations of their planet. Had to take their word for it, since it was already past sunset when we've arrived. The shuttle bringing us down flew in darkness, the beautiful lights of a substantial city in the distance, but we've landed somewhere with a lot of pitch black. The void seemed to cut the vista in half, water. We were by an ocean. The city was far away, no lights around our immediate surroundings. Once the shuttle was powered off and we got out, I already felt wonderful. Well, parts of my body did, for a moment perhaps even my mind. For one moment it managed to forget Piper.

Warm winds were licking my face, we were on the roof of a large (as in, sky scraping) building. Greeted by even more extremely considerate and well mannered Valorians, we were ushered into the complex via an elevator. We couldn't have moved downwards more than a few storeys, already emerging in a dazzlingly beautiful corridor. The walls were a kind of marble, bright yet warm beige in general, lots of swirly patterns in them of matching colours. Seratine they called it, apparently one of the best resorts on Algalon. Based merely on the corridors connecting the rooms, I was already inclined to agree.

We were led to the central room, directly across the elevator. The door was a perfect crossing between modern and pristine, wooden and engraved. A lit glass panel on the wing that didn't move had some alien writing on it. But then they opened it. The old fashioned way, no swooshing and such technological crap we were all so used to surrounding us. It opened like a proper door, what awaited us inside was... a piece of heaven.

Despite that, I got little apprehensive. At no point had it been suggested we would be placed in different suites. This looked like the one for both of us. Anyway, the doors opened into a long, elliptical, tall, spacious room. Words can barely describe it, I mean it was exquisite. Modern, but not so much that everything would've been slick and boring. It was slick, but lavish at the same time, pretty. The furnishings blended perfectly with the shiny floor and the walls, even the miscellaneous decorations were diversified and tasteful, from non-figurative objects to plants. While the lighting seemed to be holographic, they went easy on the technology otherwise, leaving a more traditional feel. Huge, funny-looking couches, set up facing a huge, bent screen carved into the wall. They called it an entertainment system. But that was in the middle of the room, set apart from the rest by two shallow steps and a few pillars, at the entrance by the door, we had a foyer area on one side, a fully furnished kitchen on the other. They assured us the resort had full restaurant facilities, but in case we wanted to make our own food, we could. The huge counter it had would also serve as the perfect bar, with tall stools, fancy overhead lights and booze, lots of booze. Then the opposite end was covered in floor to ceiling windows, opening to a balcony. All the walls were bent, in every dimension, the center of the ceiling had this elliptical area lit by ever shifting fractal patterns. I don't know where it came from, but it was stunning. Everything was stunning.

Luckily, there were two other rooms, one toward each side. Not rooms actually, but master suites, complete with their own access to the balcony, bathroom, walk in closet. I only needed to glance inside one door to see that the bed alone was bigger than an entire bedroom on Voyager. Piper was quiet and gloomy through the whole journey, but I couldn't help noticing she was impressed. Maybe not so much impressed, but glad. Glad that it would seem our saviours' definition of 'luxurious arrangements' matched ours excellently.

Piper already threw her shoes off during the introduction, but the very nice Valorian lady didn't linger a second longer than she needed to, bidding us a wonderful time here and taking her leave.  
\- " Goodnight. " - Piper declared, her tone still prim, taking one of her bags and disappearing to the suite on the right, the kitchen's side.  
\- " Goodnight. " - I replied, frankly just for myself, whispering, she wasn't paying attention... In fact we barely spoke since last time.

When other people say "God, I need the drink', I say: 'God, I need more coffee.' Not the case right now though. I've spent time on the starship participating in a show around, walk up and down the room they gave me, lying down on the couch, getting up from the couch, lying down again... I was upset at Piper, then angry with myself, then angry with the world... The remembrances of these past few days throbbing and wreaking havoc in my mind. By this time, standing in this wonderful hotel room, the only thing I wanted to do was sleep.

Instead of coffee then, I grabbed the most invitingly shaped bottle from the backside of the counter. It was shaped like a cone, the pointy end at the bottom, so it wouldn't even stand on its own, had a chrome fixture. I thought it had to be something fancy if the manufacturer can afford to sell it in such a useless bottle. Couldn't be bothered with a glass, I revelled at the sound the cork made and sniffed it. It was white, like milk, the smell told another tale though. Some sort of cream liquor, I don't know what the Valorian writing said on the side, but I liked the shape of the letters. It tasted strong, then it tasted a little more strong, but sweet, a weirdly fruity after-taste. My entire body shivered as it went down, yet it was goood, very good. Too good to have an entire bottle of it lying around. Especially considering there were about three dozen other bottles here. Although I had an itch to try them all, I put it back and resolved to force myself to fall asleep in the still vacant bed.

**std::endl;**

There was a glaring digital clock by the bed. I learned the base 12 digits of the Valorians quickly enough, so I had the pleasure of checking and understanding the display about every three minutes, for several hours. At some point I've still managed to fall asleep though, skipping over the dawn again. When I came to, the sun was up, which also made me register our windows were due west, since I saw brightness, but no dazzling globe. In spite of my genuinely terrible mood I sprung up quickly, at least I was no longer compelled to try and sleep. Walking to the windows, only the ocean came into view. We were so high up the beach was blocked by the balcony. All nice and wonderful, but I couldn't be bothered to marvel more or go out there... Piper...  
I put on a comfy, short robe over my underwear and decided to brave the main room. Hopefully she would still be in hers, give me more time to figure out how to help her... because God the entire previous day certainly wasn't enough.

As I opened the door I immediately noticed her sitting on one of the barstools, slumped over the counter. She was.. crying. Obviously noticing the sound I made she visibly shuddered, sitting up somewhat straighter, carding repeatedly through her hair, without looking at me. I didn't even see her face thanks to those long blonde locks, but the situation was far too self-explanatory, especially thanks to the noises she made. My heart suddenly throbbing in my throat, I approached the counter. On some level it would've been better to have her shout and yell with me, furious and angry, instead of seeing her so broken. If someone like her can end up this way...

Piper glanced at me for a split second once I was close, busy wiping her bloodshot eyes with the overly long sleeves of her snug onesie.  
\- " Hey.. " - she offered, hiding her face from me again.  
\- " Hey... " - I replied in a whisper, unsure if I should go closer, if I should run, or what to say or do.  
Seconds just kept rolling, I was about to get tears in my eyes from just the state she was in.  
\- " Listen, I'mm.. sorry. " - she was twitchy, unable to look at me for more than single moments - " I'm really sorry.., I was such an asshole. "  
Tears have arrived for me as well.., barely able to keep them at bay.  
\- " I don't know why I took it out on you... I... " - she was snivelling, rubbing her face - " On the planet too, on the ship, I'm... I'm really sorry. "  
\- " It's alright.., Piper.. " - I leant against the counter, strafing closer to her.  
\- " It's not though.. you didn't deserve any of it. "  
\- " It's alright, I want to be here for you.. if you want to talk, you can talk to me, if you want to shout, you can shout at me.., anything.., I'm here. "  
She nodded, forcibly halting her sobbing before moaning as she took breath - " It's just.. I've been in bad situations before.. you know, during the Kazon attacks I was nearly killed, people I knew were killed... or uhm, with.., like the Vidiians... "  
\- " This is different Piper... " - I put a hand on her shoulder, moving to gently caress her back. The garment she was wearing was so soft, I could only hope I would be that soft too.., spiritually of course.  
She shook her head, I could quite clearly sense she wanted what I said to be wrong, but... She stood up, moving slowly away, taking another snivelling breath.  
\- " I never gave up you know... "  
As she glanced at me I had this tight knot in my throat, I nearly lost it, yet I was the one supposed to help her, be strong or ... something like that.  
\- " I never started begging... " - she could barely finish her sentences, her voice was breaking up - " I... I tried to.. " - she grabbed the lower counter of the kitchen behind her, hogging her head, her long hair covering her face completely - " But I couldn't... "  
\- " Piper... " - I began approaching her again.  
\- " I.. I wasn't strong enough... " - she took a rapid breath, wiping her face one more time - " I wasn't strong enough to stop them... "

After that, it was over. I mean her extraordinary capacity to suppress her pain and keep her composure gave out, she finally started sobbing properly, loud and uncontrolled. I walked right up to her, snaking my arms around her, hugging. She squeezed around me too, her bawling reinforced. I felt so terrible for her, it was obvious she was extremely upset, broken up. Never would've thought a person like her would even be capable of falling apart like this. I couldn't even imagine what it must've taken, what she's gone through. It couldn't hold back my tears either, I felt completely heartbroken over her suffering, what a colossal failure this 'vacation' turned out to be. _I let this happen. This was on me..._  
Couldn't say how long we were standing there crying, me trying to console her quietly, caressing her back... Eventually some slight measure of calm started to creep back. The hug was released, I couldn't deduce much from her face, it was completely red, glistening with tears all over. Piper broke free, crossing the gap to the counter in the center, no longer facing me.

\- " Anyway.. " - she had to clear her throat several times for any discernible words to come out - " Seems like a nice place, huh? You should just, you know, go out or something. "  
\- " I could not care less where we are, I'm only... "  
\- " No... "  
~_No what?!_~ I couldn't see much thanks to my tears, but I was pretty sure I could still hear clearly.  
\- " You seem like... " - she was still snivelling after every second word - " you genuinely care about me... " - perhaps because I did - " And, you shouldn't. I'm not worth it. "  
\- " Piper.. " - I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing, I even stopped breathing. Forget PTSD, this girl has gone bonkers.  
\- " It's true... "  
\- " It's NOT true! " - I exclaimed, bumping into the counter next to her - " _Why would you even say that?!_ "  
\- " Because of who I am?! " - she shrugged as though it was obvious - " Because of what I did to you?! I mean... " - she produced this utterly self-destructing sarcastic chuckle - " I only got what was coming to me. "  
I couldn't even reply. Frozen, paralysed. She had this completely crushed expression on her face, shutting her eyes and turning to leave. By then I've managed to force myself to move, catching her arm.  
\- " Piper! You can't think that! " - she looked back at me with the same face - " No one deserves something like this, especially not you! "  
She attempted a dismissive shake of her head, continuing to pull away but I held my ground.  
\- " _Piper I'm serious!_ " - she looked back again - " You... "  
I tried to touch her face, but she caught my hand.  
\- " You know nothing... "  
\- " I thought we were past this.. " - I sighed.  
\- " You didn't know I had a cock. " - well, I had no smart answer for that... - " You don't know the first thing.. "  
\- " Piper... "  
\- " Do you know why I came with you?! " - I just stared forward befuddled, she ripped her arm away - " 'Cause you were on my bucket list. That's all. We were joking around when the news of the upcoming shoreleave hit us, I mean, FYI, Voyager ain't a ship of nuns you know? I've done more of the girls than I haven't. And.., you're the Captain, so that makes it pretty interesting. So when I overheard you, I was just like _'hey, am I crazy enough to try this?!'_ " - she lowered her voice - " And then I did. " - shaking her head, she took steps backwards - " And now we are here.. " - shrugging she opened her arms for a second - " And remember that crazy person on the planet?! _For fucks sake,_ I almost hit you! " - she cried out, shutting her eyes and shaking her head - " If you can just find it in your heart to not leave me here to rot when Voyager comes, that'll be plenty... " - she approached her door, looking back for a moment - " So please just.., forget about me, huh? I'm not worth... ... worth you. "

She closed the door behind her, leaving me frozen in place in the side of the kitchen. Piper made me feel many things in the past days, this was a new one. It wasn't betrayal. I didn't feel shot or stabbed, I just felt cold.., then this warm rush, from the inside. Burning, my arteries pulsating. Although this voice in my head got very loud suddenly, noting how she was right, I didn't know the first thing about her. Telling me how I was strangely attracted to someone I barely knew, someone who clearly had the makings of a violent psychopath, and I had the pleasure of witnessing that behaviour first hand. Then this newest piece of trivia.

I remembered how I didn't know, didn't understand why she of all people would even offer to come with me. Sighing, I turned back into the kitchen, find that stupidly fancy bottle. The cork popping still managed to grant some auditory refreshment, the strong taste granting a different kind. So Piper came with me to get with me. Because she has no regard for boundaries, and the Captain of her ship would make a decent trophy. I had to agree with that... ~_sigh_~, this wasn't funny.

I kept contemplating things for several minutes. There was such bitterness in her voice though... Well, why wouldn't there be, what she's been through ought to make her see things from a different perspective. I couldn't be that cruel however, no matter what her reasons were to come with me. No matter what kind of a person she actually is, or what our time together meant for her. I knew what it meant for me, and I was incapable of simply giving up on her. I took another heavy gulp from the booze, setting the bottle back. This is where characters in bad holonovels would identify this as some shallow betrayal and throw away everything they believed in, because they had been wronged. All I could truly feel was: ~_I don't care_~. I didn't care why she came with me, why she seduced me, none of that changed the way things turned out. As if this piece of information were in any remote way capable of spinning things around and have me become the real victim here. Fuck that. Fuck people who think like that. I cared about Piper, and a lot more would be required for that to change.

The central couch's cushion was very low, and very large, as big as a bed, in both dimensions. Shouldn't even call it a couch by human standards, covered in this extremely plush material, pampering your skin even at the most fleeting touch. I couldn't find a single comfortable spot on it right now though. All I could think about was Piper, and that my mind has already been made up. I've decided to fix her, if that's the last thing I do. Sure, some of my memories of her were more scary than anything else, but I found her the perfect catastrophe. I wanted to help her, to be with her. Her way of handling her condition was apparently to just ride it out, which I'd assume she has been doing for years now. The fact that she was prone to such breakdowns, like the one when we've first met the Harvesters was no surprise. And now this brutal... _thing_ happened to her. How would she deal with it on her own? She wouldn't, that's precisely how. She had all those friends on Voyager, yet I strongly suspected she was utterly lonely when and where it truly mattered. I wouldn't stand for that, for any of my crew, and I'm not above admitting to some favouritism right now and saying that I especially would not with Piper.

My resolve sufficiently steeled, I went right to her room. I've found Piper on her bed, sitting with her knees pulled up. She lifted her head as I walked in, her reaction reminiscent of someone who's upset about children not doing what they are told. Staying silent, I went to her bed, taking a seat myself, at a sufficient distance from her.  
\- " What? "  
\- " I want to help you. "  
\- " Why?! "  
\- " Because I care about you. "  
\- " You shouldn't... "  
\- " I've said this before, but I'm gonna have to say it again: you can't convince about being a monster Piper. "  
\- " I've killed people on that planet. That's like.. "  
\- " Piper, every time I give the order to fire, I'm readily accepting the fact that people might get hurt or killed on the target ships. "  
\- " That's different. "  
\- " Different how? " - she didn't answer - " Many times people do die. We see a fiery ball on the screen, that's the destruction of a vessel with the loss of all hands. I'm responsible for a lot more deaths than you are. "  
Apparently I was getting through to her, she had those pitch dark eyes wide open.  
\- " You said it yourself, I even destroyed the one Starfleet ship we've met here. "  
\- " I had no right to say any of those things. " - I blinked, tilting my head - " You had your reasons. "  
\- " Which you didn't agree with. "  
\- " Orders don't require my validation. "  
\- " You had your reasons too, you wanted us to survive. "  
She shook her head, puffing, I guess refusing to believe me somehow... - " On the tree... "  
\- " Things happened Piper.., we.. "  
\- " On their ship.. "  
\- " Doesn't mean that's all you are... "  
\- " It is! " - she snivelled, vehemently articulating - " That's the real me! "  
\- " That's not true. " - she sighed, I put a hand on her knee, leaning closer - " I will prove to you.., that's not true. "  
She remained silent, eventually shedding a few tears, looking away, nigh-discernibly shaking her head. I inched a little closer, caressing her cheek.  
\- " What's wrong Piper? " - because I detected there was something else, besides the obvious.  
\- " Everything... " - she bit her lip, wiping the tears herself - " I've never felt this way before. "  
\- " What way? "  
\- " I remember what happened, but I don't know why I did the things... I did. "  
\- " Your condition. "  
\- " What condition? "  
\- " You know what condition.. "  
\- " So what changed? Nothing changed!? "  
\- " The doctor said they corrected a chemical imbalance in your brain. "  
\- " What? " - she managed to look surprised amidst all the other emotions - " How?! "  
\- " I don't know. But it's only temporary, they didn't do anything to correct the cause.. I guess your tendencies were wiped away for the moment tho'... "  
She frowned, shaking her head - " I can't believe you are still talking to me.. I remember so many terrible things.. "  
\- " I'll tell you what I remember: I remember you standing up to a roomful of thugs, telling them if they want to come near me, they'll have to go through you. I remember gathering worms, laughing and talking about holodeck programs with you. I remember how you didn't want me to leave you in the tent. " - I was remembering some very lewd things too, but I didn't want to mention those.

Piper seemed touched, that permanent frown on her face at least levelled out.  
\- " Kathryn... "  
\- " The truth is Piper.., " - I sneaked a little closer again - " I can't remember a time I've felt so casual.., so random with someone. It's just uniform, dress uniform, official functions, Captain this, Captain that... " - I puffed bitterly - " Even before that, what mattered was being proper and fancy.., because clearly, the state of your cuff-links and chewing your food with your mouth closed is much more important than having fun. " - I took a pause, looking away briefly - " That's my life. The way it always was in my family. If I never go to another one of Neelix' punch socials with some random aliens, it will be too soon. So... uhm.., " - suddenly I was the one stammering - " I guess what I'm trying to say is.., unless you really only see me as a... "  
\- " No.. " - she interrupted, putting her hand on mine.  
\- " Then.., I would like us to spend our time here together... Not locked in separate rooms, being sorry. " - I've made the conscious decision not to point out certain other things. Like she was going to _need_ help, that this pity about what happened to me was completely misplaced, the only person who required healing here was her, not me.  
\- " I'd like that too.. " - barely getting through that sentence, a few tears rolled on her face. She was so _damn_ cute, and gorgeous... it managed to make this miserable state we were both in secondary.  
Putting her legs down she reached toward me, and I her, culminating in a wonderful hug. She squeezed me tighter in the middle of it, I could feel her heart pounding... I could've lived my whole life without some of the horrible things leading to this, but this moment felt perfect.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~20~ :: Dry Heat..._


	20. Dry Heat

**.**

**Chapter ~20~ :: Dry Heat**

**.**

Back at the Academy, during my command-level training I've sat through several seminars about how to help subordinates who suffer through traumatic events. Here's what I remembered: How the individual actually deals with the situation, what you can and can't, should and shouldn't do, highly depends on the individual. Everything I've learned there felt like shallow hogwash, as if they've simply repackaged common sense and called it important science. A commander isn't supposed to be a counsellor or a psychiatrist, so they skipped the specifics, leaving me completely clueless as to what to actually do.

I'm not talking about 'being there' for someone, that's the obvious part. I'm talking about the how. A professional would have an outline, a plan here, to assess the situation in the victim's head, and then several methods to help her along. I felt like I could do one thing only: Be there. Great.

We had our luggage deposited in the foyer. I've felt compelled to bring my bags to my room and arrange all my clothes perfectly in the walk-in closet. Going through this chore dubbed as a perfect distraction, taking my mind, if by a little, off things. Then, I sampled the bathroom's facilities, I'm talking about the shower cabin. Quite sizeable, came equipped with nozzles in and on every surface. One wall of the room had some sort of projection system built into it, providing an astonishing backdrop to cleaning oneself...

I'm not sure how much time I've wasted, but once I finished Piper was already out in the center of the hall, tinkering with some sort of controller and her tricorder. Forget what she was doing, she was so... breathtaking.., beautiful. Maybe I expected her to pull together a little, but hot damn... My legs were rooted in place, staring with my mouth open. Didn't take long for those huge eyes to settle on me.  
\- " What..? " - she asked quietly, shrugging.  
\- " Noth.. It's.. you ll.. 're.. absolutely radiant. "  
Her expression evidenced mild surprise, slowly shifting into a cute smile - " It's j.. uhm, thank you. " - she mumbled, looking over herself, then scanning me too - " That's a lovely dress. "

Oh please, I was wearing a simple sun dress, whatever let's move on...  
Piper had a white dress on, the pattern featuring a see-through mesh part across. Should come as no surprise how short and snug it was, furthering my already rock solid assumption that everything she owned showed off her legs and was viciously form-fitting. From up close I could make out the bikini underneath, red and white. Red Squad merch.., interesting how sexy they made those.

Forget her attire though, her face.. her hair. That hair has been ravaged something fierce in the past days, and the medics didn't put it back together, yet now it was shiny, exuberant. Slightly curly, wavy.., such hairstyles are banned under uniform code, perhaps that's why it looked so extraordinary and ravishing on her. Impeccable make-up too, so natural, only enough to bring out her intrinsic beauty. As I got closer I was engulfed in a cloud of perfume, an aggressively foxy scent, again matching her vibe perfectly, her usual one anyway. Despite her looks she appeared a bit frail, her posture not quite as dashing as I was used to.

\- " What did you do to your hair? "  
\- " You know uhm.., I washed it? " - her voice was hushed as well, made slightly harsher by the natural crispiness and all the crying I'd wager...  
\- " But it's so.. much, you know? And uhm.., the digital perm..? "  
\- " Yeah, H22.., and... " - her tone suggested an awkward befuddlement.  
\- " Hmm..? "  
Her brows shifted, saying: 'aww, you're so cute when you're clueless' - " ... The leave-in conditioner..? "  
\- " Oh, where is it from? "  
\- " From Earth. " - she pointed out, her brow furrowing, swallowing the 'duh' but unable to hide the grin - " Our replicators can make it. "  
Oh. Well, I'm sorry I'm clueless about beauty products, I'm a captain not a doll. ~_Why wasn't I a doll though?!_~ - " Oh... " - I breathed, smiling to hide my misery - " And the.. curls? "  
\- " You know that... " - she kept snapping her fingers - " That thing with like the forked end? You point, press the button and pull? And then this happens? " - tilting her head, she flicked her locks.  
I smiled warmly - " You could just admit you're good at this. "  
\- " I'm really not... "  
I had an almost overwhelming urge to kiss her suddenly. For some weird reason I also expected her to do it. Nothing happened of course, I remained in a daze all the same though...  
\- " Uhm.., what are you doing? " - it was time to change the subject, I hinted at the gadgets.  
\- " Uploaded our translation matrix to the.. 'cloud'. Everything should be in English now. "  
\- " Hmm.. " - I looked over to the screen, lots of pictures of... stuff, places. I assumed they were inside this complex.  
\- " This place has everything. Literally. "  
\- " Can we use everything? "  
\- " Yeah.., prices are scratched out on all services, and our 'account' simply says.. " - she switched the screen to one prepared for a table with several columns, but all it said was: - " All expenses paid for. "  
We shared a happy smile - " Anything you wanna try first? "  
\- " The seafood restaurant. I'm really hungry. "

**«std::endl;**

This particular restaurant was only 30 something levels below our room, still very high up in the building. Piper seemed a bit uneasy ever since others have joined us in the elevator, so we didn't do much looking around, proceeding immediately to our destination. The steps upward lead into a wonderful, imposing hall, quite large and entirely without pillars of any kind. A buffet system was in place, you were supposed to grab a plate by the center, and scour through the several aisles filled to the brim with varied dishes. The counters formed a kind of maze, you were supposed to enter from a certain angle and go through. How illogical. Since there were plenty of people, going back, in case your brain produced a delayed response to something gourmet you've passed earlier involved a lot of 'excuse me's.

Piper didn't seem to be enjoying herself. The most prominently featured race was of course Valorian, but there were plenty of something else, who haven't been introduced to us yet. They were smaller in stature, their skin either purple or green. They had shallow, barely protruding ridges on their bodies, which their attire seemed intent on showing off.., except they weren't pretty. The people in general weren't pretty. Very bad things to say about a people you've just met basically, but while on their spaceship they were all nice and in shape, all these tourists here seemed fat and altogether not-so-pleasant. I wouldn't use the word unpleasant outright, but.., well.

Either way, Piper, especially thanks to her heeled, ankle-cut booties was taller than most of them, her clothes and her body type making her a shiny jewel among broken pieces of glass. _No I don't think that's too dramatic._ There were other jewels of course, some Valorian men and women were shining beacons of hope in this sea of mediocrity, but Piper.., I dare say, _we_ stood out. My legendary modesty would of course prevent me from pointing out just how pretty I've found my own dress, but there it is. Valorian fashion wasn't anything fancy or all too surprising, they seemed to be partial to hanging things though. Most of the women had long attires, but the splits and cuts in their skirts reached their hips, or even higher. If our faces and Piper's spots didn't do enough already, our mostly bare legs set us apart from the crowd. She didn't seem to enjoy this at all, quite the opposite. Once she bumped into a man as she was attempting to switch from one side to the other, she visibly shuddered, and even as the man apologized, she was just staring at her own plate, her head hogged. What should I do, I wondered. Knowing what Piper was normally like, being very motherly and overprotective of her could be just as bad as not saying or doing anything...

I ended up with a full plate, while she barely got anything, and she was supposed to be hungry. Her expression didn't seem satisfied either.  
\- " Are you.. "  
\- " Yes.. " - she interrupted, dismissively moving off. Confirming my earlier concerns much too accurately...  
She beelined directly to one of the more secluded spots, but in all fairness there wasn't a single one of those in this place. At least on one side we had the glass of the building, with a breathtaking view of the vast ocean. We were so high up the angle didn't allow us to see the beach, maybe if one pressed one's head against the window you could glimpse something white down there.  
What was I going to do with Piper though... She was obviously uncomfortable, but I didn't want to try and ask anything about that after the earlier hasty 'yes'. Mentioning a few utterly meaningless things about the food was all the exchange we had. Despite her plate quickly becoming empty, she didn't seem eager to have anything more. If anything I thought I've detected some scorn in her expression, as if I wasn't eating fast enough.

\- " Are you already full? " - I asked, fully expecting her to go for repeats, several times.  
I couldn't quite interpret a response from her.  
\- " I thought you would sample all entrées. "  
\- " Yeah.. " - she awkwardly looked aside, pulling on her dress, putting a hand on her other shoulder.  
\- " What's wrong? "  
\- " I am still hungry, it's jst.. " - flicking some hair into her face instead of away from it she glanced at me for only a nanosecond - " I feel like everybody is staring at me. " - inadvertently, I looked around - " I don't wanna go there and.. " - she shifted again, visibly shivering - " This dress was a stupid idea. "  
\- " Don't think like that Piper... " - I wanted to offer a comforting touch but nothing of hers was close to the table - " I can get another plate for you. "  
\- " I just... I really just wanna go back to our room.. Can't we take the food? "  
\- " I'm sure we can.. " - I stood up.  
\- " I don't wanna ruin it for you... "  
\- " You're not ruining anything, come on. "

Piper seemed so fearful as she stood up, her posture suggested I shouldn't even touch her, trying to cover herself. The dress really wasn't revealing, no cleavage to speak of or such, it was simply snug. The pattern was pretty, the embroidery somewhat fancy, but in all seriousness the only reason it looked amazing is because she did. Vicious is the best word I can come up with to describe the look it gave it her. As in, when one's body just seems so perfect you'd want to strangle them. I was glad I've never made any sort of catty remark about it though, since she seemed very bothered now... As I guided her toward the buffet she barely looked up at all.  
\- " What would you like..? "  
\- " I.. I can't.. " - shaking her head, she took off toward the exit.  
Since I didn't want to make a scene I didn't yell out or run after her, only followed at a reasonable pace, catching up at the elevator. I had the 'pleasure' of witnessing how a man amongst the bystanders waiting for the lift took a good long look at her, up and down, down and up, then returned to smile like a buffoon at his companion. Part of me wanted to punch him, part of me quickly reminding however, that under regular circumstances, Piper properly would've enjoyed the staring, the attention.

As I reached her, she turned toward me and grabbed my arm - " Kathryn... " - the misery in her voice confirmed what I suspected, this wasn't an contrived hissy fit, she was twitchy and upset, almost in panic.  
\- " Shhh.. Piper.., we'll be back up there in a moment.. " - I whispered, leaning close.  
\- " Aren't there like, stairs..? "  
\- " Our level is 38 stories up. " - that seemed to convince her, suffering through the lift ride with half a dozen other people might worth it - " I'm here alright? Everything's going to be fine... "  
She nodded, letting out a very quiet whine interlocking our arms. The entire journey her head was bopped forward, the long blonde locks blocking sight toward all directions. I felt so bad for her, I wanted to cuss at everyone leaving the lift at earlier levels, making it stop every single time, lengthening this ordeal. We weren't so lucky to be left alone for the final leg of the journey either, someone else stayed until the top too. She was a child though, skipping fast and careless out as the doors opened.  
Once we got in our suite, she quickly left my embrace.  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " Please uhm.., " - burying her head in her palms she was breathing in rapid bursts - " could you go back, right away? I want to be alone.., for just a few minutes. "  
\- " Are you s... "  
\- " Please. " - wasn't going to say no to those tear filled eyes, not in a million years.  
\- " Sure. What would you like? "  
\- " I.. Anything, I don't care. " - kicking off her shoes she was heading for her room.

I mumbled something along the lines of 'alright' and backed out. How I returned to the restaurant and what I did there is all a haze. I didn't even need to, there's such a thing as room service, but I wanted to give Piper her space. Even though I wasn't sure of that being a good idea. Still pushing her felt worse. Despite the remarkable way she seemed to have pulled herself together earlier, it obviously wasn't so simple, not even for her. I expected as much of course, but I dared hope the Vigor of Kav'Raahl would fix things automatically. It didn't.

* * *

When I came back, I found her in the kitchen, all wet. Dripping all over the place still, in her bikini, the dress came into view chucked down to the floor as I went closer. She was busy chugging down a glass of something..  
\- " Piper.., what happened? "  
\- " I don't know. " - her answer was flat, looking straight ahead instead of me - " Thought the cold water would help. "  
Judging by the streak of wetness on the floor, the water came from the shower.  
\- " Did it? "  
\- " Not really.. " - she sighed, pouring another wad of some hard liquor.  
\- " No! You can't drink Piper! " - I covered the glass with a palm.  
\- " Why?! " - her voice raised, stiffening up.  
\- " Because they pumped you full of meds before we left, remember? The doctor told you not to.. "  
\- " So what?! " - she pulled it away, but I went after it, bumping into her a bit.  
\- " This isn't the answer anyway! " - please be more cliché for the love of ...  
\- " Then what is?! " - whispering, she took a few steps backwards, she held her arms apart - " What is the answer?! " - shouting now, fury gleaming in her eyes.  
I took a breath, but had no idea what to say, felt so powerless suddenly.., against her anger, against the knowledge of why she had it.  
\- " Oh go on, say it! " - despite all her endearing qualities, when she wanted to be callous she could be, harsh in every small gesture, her tone dripping with contempt.  
\- " Say what? " - I leaned on the counter, asking faintly, barely able to keep looking at her face.  
\- " Say you know what I'm going through! Say you know what I feel! "  
\- " I don't.., I know I don't. But I still wish to help you... "  
\- " How?! ... Why?! You're not my friend! You're not my... You're my captain! Okay..? " - those words honestly felt like daggers stabbing at me, but I... she was obviously so upset, her entire body seemed to be in a cramp, almost wrenching water from the counter behind her, she was holding onto it so tightly - " You know just.. grant me extra rations when we get back to the ship or something, that's all you need to do. "  
I couldn't reply.., lowering my head.  
\- " I don't need help. What I need is those people in a room... So I can tear their fuckin' arms out and beat them with it until they're nothing but puddle of gore! " - she crossed the kitchen, banging first, then leaning over the island not far from me, her arms straight.  
\- " Actually, that's not true... " - her voice was higher, as if she was pretending to be someone else - " I don't feel that. I'm not angry. I don't even feel like I'm me. I feel like I'm in someone else's husk, which is about to ripped apart from the inside. I feel like there's this fuckin'.. " - bringing her arms up, her muscles tightened, fingers locked in fists, her voice changed too - " pressure... Like I'd blow up any moment now! Can you make _that_ go away? "  
She didn't look at me for the question, glaring straight outside. Her face reddened, in this intense grimace. I had my own version of upset throbbing inside me, felt so sorry, so broken up about her... Tentatively I raised my hand.  
\- " Piper... " - as soon I touched her, she flinched away.  
\- " Don't touch me! " - her start had such impetus she slipped and almost fell on the slippery wet floor, bumping into the same counter, practically spinning away. It could've been comical if not for the darkness of the situation.  
\- " Jst.. leave me alone! " - crying, she stumbled and disappeared in her room, slamming the door with such force I was afraid it would come out of its socket.

I remained standing there, a hundred different thoughts coursing through my mind. I wish I could say how I felt. Wish I even knew how I felt. Was I upset with her apparent decision not to confide in me? Probably. Did I understand it? Probably. Had I an even remote idea why I assumed she would be all chummy with me? Trusting, gentle and soft, crying in my arms, letting me nurse her? No, not really...

**« std::endl;**

The balcony of the apartment was a wonder all on its own. Very wide, spanning across the main room and the twin bedrooms on each side, its gently curved outer edge was lined with beautifully cut marble balustrade. The design of the entire lavish apartment struck a perfect balance between baroque splendour and modern tendencies. While the railing was made of stone, the shades above were holographic. They could be configured with a single command to follow the people on the balcony, so there was always a shadow cast upon you, while the sun scorched the rest of it all. It didn't have to be a blank, utterly dark shadow of course, that as well could be configured. I felt it eerie what a good idea this was, instead of the almost universally always just a bit inconvenient umbrellas or whatever, a barely seen, ghostly protector following you around. Holosuites didn't seem to be available, even though holographics infused a great deal of their technology. We had holodecks, but a weightless ever present sunscreen instead of a clunky sunbrella? No one thought of that.

We were so high up, the constant calm breeze and the lovely shade made the temperatures more than bearable. This was a dry heat, unlike the dripping humid warmth back in the jungle. We were surrounded by a desert, only the resort and its immediate surroundings had an obviously artificially kept patch of lavish greenery. The vast city in the distance seemed to sprout from the utter nothingness surrounding it, all across the horizon. Couldn't see anything across the ocean either, past the small island that wasn't even a kilometre off shore. I was sitting in another all too softly cushioned chair, glaring at all the sights, not seeing anything though, if you catch my drift.

Our room service arrived a minute after Piper disappeared in her room. The balcony was of course stretching in front of it too, but I made it a point to not go near there. I'm not sure how long I spent out here, letting my completely blank mind wonder the bleakness of our circumstances. Realizing I was actually still hungry, I've decided against starving myself any further.  
Stepping back inside, the first thing I noticed was Piper, standing on the other side of the kitchen's island, sampling the same meals I was thinking about. I froze. My mind too, nothing, I had no idea what to say or do. What I even wanted to say or do. My problem wasn't determining what would be appropriate, it was thinking up a course of action for that evaluation in the first place.

\- " Come in, please.. " - her voice was hair thin, cried out.  
Ushered along by some unknown force, I crossed the living room... Her hair was spun into a ponytail, face red, bulging eyes...  
\- " I'm not making this easy for you.., am I ? "  
~_Well, no._~ Was I upset with her? Yeah, I think so. Was I going to mention that? Did I have any business being upset with her? No.  
\- " Don't worry about me Piper.., tell me if you want me to leave, I .. "  
\- " No.. " - she snivelled - " I don't want you to leave.., I'm sorry, it's jst, I'm so.. s.. " - her words turned into gibberish, her lips trembling, head shaking.  
I began rounding the corner, despite craning and unable to go to her, I found myself equally unable to ask whether I could go to her...  
\- " It's uhm.. I feel so... " - she wiped her tears, but her entire face and hands were glistening so that didn't help much - " broken.. and I don't want... uhm... " - she took a few rapid, broken up breaths - " I uhm, can I ask you something? "  
\- " Anything... " - I was biting back my tears, a sharp pain in my throat.  
\- " Are you... I mean, I don't... I don't want you to, you know, do anything, just because you feel like you owe me. "  
\- " I do owe you Piper... " - my tears rolled - " More than I think I realize. But that's not.. I'm here because I care about you.., probably uhm.. more than you realize. And uhm.. "  
She nodded a few times before interrupting me - " I f.. I hate.. I can't seem to you know, handle this.. properly. I hate that you.. see me like this. "  
I sighed, shaking my head slightly, but she continued.  
\- " Weak and.. worthless. "  
Okay. The feeling when it hits you.., you either do something immediately or regret not having done it for the rest of your life. Perhaps all those years as a captain were good for one thing, sparking a sudden determination to transcend this plight and provide some active help.  
\- " You are not worthless, and you are not weak. At all. Please remember that it was your strength, and your strength alone that allowed us to escape. No one else, rugged men didn't have the courage to do what you did. Remember you mentioned the Medal of Honor to me? That's what it's given for, you do realize that, right? "  
\- " Please.. " - her eyes shut, she shook her head.  
\- " No Piper, it's true. Selfless sacrifice and salient courage... "  
\- " I've done so many.. less honourable thi... "  
\- " So you are not perfect. Good. None of us are. The point is you did what had to be done when it mattered. They, the guards, had everyone else in check. They weren't paying attention to you, they assumed you were broken. Now they are all dead. They can't hurt anyone any more, because of you. "  
\- " I.. " - she shook, another rush of sobs ripping at her.  
\- " You weren't broken then, you are not broken now. You were hurt. Profoundly. But you will heal from that. Everything will return to the way it was. "  
That's all I had. A short while passed with only snivelling noises.  
\- " When? "  
\- " Sooner than it must seem now... "  
She let go of the counter, turning, propping against it with her hip. I tentatively took a few steps along the same counter.  
\- " I co.. I would really like to help you... "

Her posture was so dismayed, I felt she struggled with looking at me, but eventually she did, blinking so many times to get the tears out of her eyes... Seeing her like this was pure torture to me, someone so dauntless in pieces. All those muscles cramped in pain. Eventually she raised an arm toward me. I flew forward, hugging her gently at first, squeezing as hard as I could soon after. She was shaking, her heart beating so rapidly, bawling. She squeezed me too, slowly, very slowly calming. We used up a small forest worth of paper towels in the next few minutes, at least they were quilted and soft.

**«std::endl;**

After things calmed down enough, we ate. Piper wasn't in a talkative mood, but at least she seemed content with my presence. I felt glad for that, even in this horrible situation. We retreated to the balcony, where she quickly fell asleep. I turned around, quitting my empty gazing at the ocean.  
I had something better to look at: Piper. She was laying on the sofa / actually quite sizeable bed, across the coffee table from me. The trusty holographics casting a light, elliptical shadow around her bikini-clad form. She was half on her side, half on her belly, utilizing only small pillow for her head. I was relieved to see her face at peace while she quietly snoozed away. Her skin was so perfect, especially with her lovely spots. She might have been very feminine at glance, but I think men would be put off by her level of muscle tone. Some finer details weren't very girly about her at all, she had big hands, feet, wide shoulders. The more I looked at her to more my Inner Kitty regarded her as a complete mindfuck. Inner Kitty became my newest dissociative identity. She was very unbridled and vulgar, and exceedingly attracted to Piper despite everything. I felt myself equally drawn to her masculine and girly parts, like her boobs. Those were very feminine. The line of the waist and hips, her butt and her thighs too. I'm not sure what changed, I've seen her scantily clad before, yet now she was all I could think about.

Not only because she was laying there almost bare. Spikes of such profound sorrow assaulted me from time to time. I should've been the one to go through what she did. Or at least I should've found a way to prevent this. Maybe I should've listened to her on the planet. Actually that wasn't a maybe anymore, if I do and we attack them outright her suffering could've been prevented. My rational self could protest all she wanted about how that was the incorrect way to think. She was probably right too, but I couldn't stop shivering every time I thought about... Even I had trouble with it, couldn't imagine how it must've been like for her. That was the first thing I've decided with absolute certainty: I have no idea what she feels, and I shouldn't presume to know how to help her. But I knew that I would help her, if that's the last thing I do. I wouldn't care if Voyager comes back in the meantime, I wouldn't delegate this problem to the Doctor, or anyone. Chakotay can handle the ship, just like he was in these very moments, I would spend every waking moment with Piper.., whatever it would take to nurse her back from this.

**« std::endl;**

I was contacted by Captain Renar, they've succeeded in contacting Voyager. As I had suspected they already knew about the subspace flowfields and were attempting to determine the vector our shuttle was flung, while trying to execute a search pattern. Which of course wasn't simple at all, since intersecting a flowfield at warp speed would destroy the ship in an instant. Anyway, now they knew which way to go, I had every confidence they would find their way through safely to the ships waiting for them. Strange, so much has happened to me and Piper it almost felt like I didn't have the energy to worry about Voyager in the past days. I was of course quite glad to find out I didn't have to any more either.

Rejoining Piper on the balcony, she seemed to be awake, although still lying down. After sharing the news with her I leant over the balustrades, glancing at the base of the building. The drop was dizzying, people almost couldn't be discerned from this distance. I sure would have loved exploring the place... Maybe there was a glint in my eye, because she noticed.  
\- " Go. "  
\- " Hmm..? " - I turned back.  
\- " You don't have to stay here all day. "  
\- " I stay where you are Piper, I don.. "  
\- " Please, I'm just gonna sleep anyway. I've no idea what they gave me, but I'm constantly drowsy, and people aren't exactly my favourite things to be around right now.., it would seem, so... "  
\- " Alright.. " - I said quietly, moving off, but she suddenly sat up, reaching after me.  
\- " I didn't mean you. I meant you know.. the outside. "  
Her touch felt so heart-warming, those lovely eyes glinting at me as well... Much better to look at than the reddened face after crying so much... But forget what I saw, what made me feel truly warm and fuzzy inside were her words. I smiled, squeezing her hand.  
\- " So do come back before nightfall... "  
\- " Of course... " - I leant down and kissed her on the cheek. Might feel like an action requiring a bit more of an explanation, but that's what happened, quite compact and simple. An atomic operation, I didn't even think, I merely did.

It seemed the gesture threw Piper off balance, shifting her thoughts away from despair. My heart was about to burst when she wrapped a hand around my neck and kissed me back. We've spent many moments glaring into each other's eyes, before looking away. I straightened back up, she took a deep breath, leaning against the back cushions. Almost precisely at the same time, we paid a fleeting, unsure wide-eyed stare to one another, before she broke for the tall glass of juice and the table, and I fled.

**« std::endl;**

Seratine turned out to be quite massive. Now that I've actually paid attention to the graphics of maps and stuff I realized I probably wouldn't even want to walk through it all in one go. The building itself had the shape of a square sail, our suite was near the top, slightly toward the side, on the 'positive' or convex side, facing the ocean. The other side while mostly featuring the devastation of a massive desert, also had a lush garden of rather epic proportions underneath. After exploring some of the levels of the building which didn't have rooms, like the storey of the restaurant we visited, that's where I spent most of my time. Somehow I didn't fancy visiting the beach, the quiet wonderfulness of the garden was much more decompressing. Of course there wasn't a single minute where I didn't think about Piper, or Voyager, the two things which had me dreading the future.

Valorians felt like a private people, no other guest had the need to strike up a conversation with me at a splendid fountain I've decided to sit by. Thankfully I haven't seen a single Rakaav anywhere, I doubt any of them could afford this place, if they even wanted to. The vast majority were Valorian and those green / purple people I still haven't identified... A third kind popped up too, they had scales and a generally hideous face. Anyway, the fountain had its water guided by unseen holographics, creating amazing patterns since it could utilize a lot more than gravity to do it. Water shaped like a twisting snake spinning around and such proved sufficiently diverting. There weren't too many people around, I thought about inviting Piper down here the coming days.

Voyager would arrive after five days as I was informed. Five days. Piper's Naraahlness prevented me from making adequate predictions about what can be expected to transpire in five days. It sounded like a lot though. I had felt somewhat guilty, lounging in a place like this, while everyone else I cared about at this point in my life were stuck on the same spaceship, travelling at high warp. The whole sector was obviously industrialized by the Valorians in the past centuries, so there was nothing to see or scan, only flying in a straight line. Part of me wished I would have to fly in a straight line. It would've been easier. Important to point out I wasn't too lazy to take care of Piper, I was unsure. Maybe if either the tragedy or my attraction to her would.. fade into the Interphase in a matter of moments... But neither did.

**« std::endl;**

Upon my return I've found her on the couch, messing around with the entertainment system, lighting up the whole half of the hall in colourful holograms. She put on a simple, loose shirt / onesie / whatever. The exception that proves the rule, as it were. It made her an entire one percent less attractive. Made me quite glad to have found her in good spirits.  
\- " No more sleeping? "  
\- " I got tired of sleeping... " - she smiled, in the most comfortable pose possible I might add, her long legs stretched on the sofa, arm along the back of it - " How was the exploration? "  
\- " Well this is the biggest hotel I've ever been in. Did you know we are 1284 meters above sea level? " - larger structures, sure, but this place was only a hotel...  
\- " Yeah I read it on this thing. Leaning out from the balcony is rather daunting. "  
Meanwhile I grabbed a bottle of ice cold juice from the fridge, joining her in the center.  
\- " What are you up to? "  
\- " Watching sports. "  
There were people beating each other on the screen...  
\- " There are people beating each other on the screen. "  
\- " Yeah, I wasn't the only one receiving incredible medical care. Since they can fix most anything, there are barely any rules here, it's.. riveting. "

There was plenty of space on the couch, but since she bent her knees to make way, I sat down as close as possible. The stuff on the screen was worse than Tsunkatse. At least there they used controlled polaron bursts, sensors, so on and so forth, here it was merely... blood.  
\- " _Riveting_, you say? "  
She chuckled quietly, changing to something else. Lots of snow, skiing.  
\- " How 'bout snow? "  
\- " Hmm.., is this on this planet? "  
\- " Yeah, apparently. Interesting how different cultures develop the same kinda stuff for the same things. "  
\- " Sort of logical, don't you think? "  
\- " Yeah but still. I'm starting to think there ain't a better way to descend mountains. I wonder how the Borg ski. "  
\- " I doubt they assimilate much of that... "  
\- " What's your favourite sport? "  
\- " Tennis. "  
\- " Tennis, huh? "  
\- " Not _riveting_ enough? "  
\- " No, it's great, very competitive as I recall. I never got into it tho', balls and rackets you know.., sort of last century. "  
\- " More like last millennium actually.. " - we smiled at each other.  
\- " Were you any good? "  
\- " Well I stopped in high school. "  
Piper booed quietly - " How is it your sport then? What do you do now? "  
\- " I do enjoy velocity. "  
\- " Oooh, we must play sometime. "  
\- " I'm not sure that's a good idea. " - I answered, flat.  
\- " Why? "  
\- " You seem to like competition, you know.. " - we looked at each other, my head tilted slightly - " I would feel awkward wiping the floor with you. "  
\- " Ohohohooo... " - she laughed out, smiling so brilliantly with her mouth open, continuing the complacent cackling - " Oooh-kay. I have a reason to return to Voyager now. "

The candid conversation went on for a while, ripping me back from the edge of this gaping maw of sorrows the rest of the day pushed me. The more I got the know about Piper the more I realized she was absolutely nothing like anyone in my life before. Yet I liked her. We weren't going to debate philosophy, or chromolinguistics, nor did I mind that at all.

**«std::endl;**

Later, as in, after ordering another round of room service and marvelling at the sunset, we've settled in to watch a movie. She was so cute, asking if I wanted to put on something more comfortable. Since I seemed to have '_forgotten_' my dress and heels on since my excursion. Although much more reserved than I came to expect from her, she made sufficient effort to tell me she thought I was 'very pretty'. Had me obsessed for the rest of the evening.., where I put on a long, loose shirt much like hers, which I packed for our original trip. I also had short shorts, except I didn't regard them as much more than underwear, but on account of the raging summer outside, I've decided they will be plenty.

The entertainment system in the main hall was a remarkable piece of technology, the quality of the projection wasn't unlike on our holodecks, all around that massive bend in the wall / ceiling, and actually curving past us on the couch. It wasn't interactive at all, still achieving an incredible level of immersion, I really felt like a part of the adventure.

And I was really, really scared through most of it. Piper picked something tagged as 'horror', 'action' and 'adventure'. It involved a group of friends visiting some sort of ruins, I got the vibe that it must've been a perhaps a bit coloured telling of legends or myths indigenous to this planet, the culture of their ancestors. I started out on the assumption that the most handsome one of the travellers will surely be the final survivor, but then he was the second to meet a quite gruesome end, so I've spent the rest of it clinging tightly to Piper.

The first scare had me all but jumping off the couch, earning hearty giggling, she opened up the spot by her. At first I was much too self-conscious to go close to her, but then I pounced at the opportunity, snaking my arm around her too. Some scares had the both of us all but starting with fright, I have no idea why would she want to watch something like this, but she seemed to enjoy it so much, I was really happy to be spending time like this with her. The ending made about three different suggestions about what or who the '_evil_' was, and how or why it may have actually survived, so it took entire minutes for us to emerge from the depths of the couch's comfortable cushions.

\- " That was awesome... " - Piper declared, leaning even closer to me: " Did you like it? "  
Thanks to her gorgeous face mere inches from me I was nodding before I even thought about the answer.  
\- " Yes.. "  
Smiling, she breathed a ginger kiss on my cheek, fiddling with my hair as she pulled away and climbed off the oversized sofa. The sudden cuteness overload had me gasping for a breath...  
Piper stood, stating something more about how Valorians make good horror movies I didn't register. Anyway, if the measure of one such feature is its ability to make you deathly afraid of the dark for the foreseeable future, then I'd have to agree.

She simply walked into the dark kitchen, with only the rolling credits granting some illumination. My first instinct was to use the 'remote' to light up the whole room. Mildly of course, wouldn't want to be blinded. ... I missed her already. She wasn't more than six meters away, and I missed her already. We were sitting, laid back and flush up against each other since the 10th minute of the movie. Our arms enveloping the other, our legs next to, sometimes intertwining each other's. That was the best part of the whole thing. Then this kiss.., leaving me in a jolly good mood. Finding the remains of the snack we had earlier, she gobbed up some of it. Couldn't believe how much she ate, that Vigor of Kav'Raahl certainly required a lot of fuel to heal her body. She broke out yawning a moment later though.

\- " It's time to turn in, huh? "  
I stood up too, walking over - " You can sleep after that? "  
She grinned - " You can't? " - I quirked my brows wondering - " Are you afraid..? " - she leant closer across the counter, tilting her head, cheeky grin on her lips.  
\- " I'm not afraid with _you_ around... "  
Smiling, she rounded the island to approach me - " Perhaps you shouldn't go back to your room then.. " - stopping more than a meter from me, she bit her lip with her arms behind her back, then spun around to walk into her room.  
\- " Let me slip into something more comfortable.. " - I uttered, watching her silhouette fade away in the doorway.  
I rushed to my wardrobe, my heart racing faster than I'd care to admit. Then Kitty pointed out I was already in something more comfortable... Driven by a sudden undeniable impulse I took off my bra though, who'd want to sleep in that? By the time I made it out of my room, I felt really, really torn up over my attire, or rather the lack thereof. I stood there, contemplating, the wheels turning, eventually prompting me to return. The shirt I had was really loose, without anything underneath I feared I wouldn't be very.. decent by the morning.

I had no intention to grab something boring though... Not sure why, but I only wore proper and convoluted nightgowns on Voyager. Guess a Captain must be a Captain even while sleeping. Or as the Ferengi would say, a Captain is a Captain is a Captain. Well, I sure as hell wasn't going to be a Captain now... So I put on a more constricted, still very comfortable top. That was short though, leaving a midriff. I stood there, staring at myself in the mirrors fixed onto the walk in closet's doors. ~_What the fuck are you doing?!_~ Kitty screamed in my head ~_Just go!_~ But.. but.. but.. Then it struck, clear as day. Piper won't have anything snide to say about these clothes, that was an absolute certainty. Would anything else matter in this situation? ~_NO, GO!_~

Shutting off everything in the hall I slowly felt and stumbled my way to her room. There was a starry sky in there. As in, holographic nightlights providing the illusion of one. I never noticed the place had such features. It cast enough light for me to make out her silhouette lying in the bed already. Guess what, suddenly I was terribly self-conscious about where to actually go into the same bed. She laid in the middle, slightly more space behind her than in front, so I chose behind.  
These beds... the cushions everywhere in this hotel. Valorians must have very delicate skin or sense of touch, or both, the plush softness of everything took my breath away each time. Closing the gap between us felt such a intimidating task. I was ready to be slutty and inappropriate in my room, completely chickening out by now.  
\- " Come here.. " - Piper whispered, without turning, only extending her hand backwards.

I needed that. I squirmed close, let her grab my hand, she pulled it in, intertwining our fingers, to her chest. My front side was flush up against her back to pull this off, I shifted and pulled a leg up to achieve maximum connecting surface. I placed a tender kiss on her shoulder, looking forward to a wonderful night with Piper in my embrace.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~21~ :: Second Try...  
_


	21. Second Try

_**Author's Note:** I'm trying really hard to make this plausible, express conflict. Unlike certain other fics where the root of all relevant emotions are explained in two sentences, one for each character, each detailing how they woke up one day, horrendously in love with the other. I can only hope this will in fact turn out better and not simply boring. These chapters are the most worked on ones from it all. I've written them 'completely' during the past weeks, even months when working on the then-current ones didn't suit my fancy. My muse, I should say, pretending this is art. I'm deleting entire paragraphs now, restructuring others, destroying or fully redoing hours of work. It's quite a liberating experience. Unfortunately outlining wasn't happening here, so I'm cutting where the word count gets too high, chapters are rather meaningless._

**_._**

**Chapter ~21~ :: Second Try**

**.**

When I awoke the darkness and the starry sky was gone, the shutters barely open, allowing sunlight inside. I was on my back, found Piper well within arms length, also on her back, her eyes open. Blinking the sleep out of mine I slid closer, turning to my side. She glanced at me, her lips curving into a small smile. I had this sudden urge to touch her, and then some, but I took it slow. Gently running my fingers along her side I breathed a kiss on her shoulder. Piper glanced at me again, our eyes meeting for a fleeting moment, then she got out of the bed.

I got this unnerving lump in my throat, felt like her abrupt departure was because of me. Couldn't bare the thought, I was fairly certain she like-liked me... She was sitting on a bar stool, fiddling with a fresh glass of milk by the time I made it outside, braced for impact. Not saying anything, I just stumbled along to the counter.  
\- " Morning.. " - she whispered, her face oddly disillusioned.  
\- " What's wrong? "  
\- " Nothing. "  
\- " Did I.. "  
\- " No.. " - she shook her head dismissively holding up her hand.  
\- " It's just.. it felt like you.. "  
\- " It's not you. "  
\- " Piper, if.. "  
\- " I don't wanna talk about it. "  
I frowned, suddenly painfully aware I should leave her some space at least sometimes.  
\- " It's not that, stop frowning. "  
Tilting my head, I smirked a little, she was so cute in these moments, trying to get me off her back but at the same time incessantly making sure I don't get the wrong idea. I didn't even need to ask anything more. She leaned back into the cushions, burying her face in a hand.

\- " My dick doesn't work, okay? " - she took a deep breath, turning up the volume - " I mean I'm lying there pressed against you, looking at that.. " - she was looking at my body, this fleeting expression of longing on her face, part of me wanted to moan, just from that gaze - .. that body, you're kissing my shoulder, and... and NOTHING! " - snapping away she rubbed her face - " What did they do to me Kathryn... "  
\- " Piper.., it's .. "  
\- " No, you don't get it! " - she jumped out of the chair, circling it facing away from me, but then suddenly craned, sitting back down only a few seconds later, her face in her palm - " Sorry. "  
\- " For what? "  
\- " For snapping at you.. it's like... sometimes I... it's uhm... " - she finally took her hand away sighing, looking up to me with those huge eyes - " Piper would be angry I think. "  
\- " You think? "  
\- " Sometimes I just don't feel like I'm me. "  
I tried to smile in a motivational kind of way - " It's simply a side effect of the correction they made. " - that came out automatically, me only being moderately sure about it.  
\- " Well when I think about how I used to feel, and how I feel now.. " - she looked away, blinking a few tears - " I'm not sure I want to return to norm... to the way I was. "  
\- " Why do you say that Piper..? " - I stepped right next to the chair, putting a hand on her bare knee.  
\- " Do you think _Piper_ would mope around.., hug you? " - I could only narrow my eyes as a reply - " Piper would be in like a gym, or just destroying whatever she could find, enraged. And this.. " - she glanced down to her crotch for a moment - " She would just be jerking.. you know, the worm, until something happened, or it.. came off. " - she covered her face again, her voice breaking up - " I wish the doctors wouldn't have done anything. "  
\- " Don't say that Piper.. "  
\- " Then I would never have had to face what an asshole I actually am. "  
\- " You keep saying that, but.. "  
\- " I keep saying it Kathryn because it's the truth, for fuck's sake would you please just believe me? "  
\- " You have friends on Voyager Piper, people who care about you.. "  
\- " Friends.. " - snickering with this faint, bitter tone she shook her head - " I have squadmates. "  
\- " They aren't your friends? "  
\- " No,_ they are my squadmates Kathryn._ You don't get it... "  
\- " Then tell me about it.. "

Sighing heavily, she spent a while looking at me, then fiddling with her glass of milk on the counter, then glancing again.  
\- " Do you know what happens in advanced tactical conditioning? "  
\- " .. I have.., some idea. " - it's the kind of training I wouldn't let happen within Starfleet. Then a war like this most recent one comes, and I realize we need it.  
. " When you complete it, you don't come out as friends, see? I certainly didn't. You come out as... you know.. it's, it's _conditioning_, huh? You know what training is, conditioning isn't _more_, it's different. You don't come out as _more than friends_ you come out as something else. The things we do to each other, the pranks, the way we talk, if a normal person would have anyone behave that way toward them, they would want to relocate to the other end of the galaxy. That's the best way I can describe our 'friendship'. It's not friendship. It's something different. "  
\- " But.. "  
\- " Then there's everyone else, and in accordance with what I've just said, they all think we are psychopaths, and they're not wrong. "  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " Stop, okay?! " - she tossed the glass away along the counter - " What were you thinking, when I offered to come with you? "  
\- " Well.. " - I shrugged - " I didn't understand why you'd want to, but.. "  
\- " Nobody cares about the buts. What did you think about me? "  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " Answer the bloody question! " - despite her words, her tone didn't raise, leaned back in the chair she seemed rather indifferent.  
My turn to sigh heavily, forcing myself to think back properly. To unlock the ability to tell her squarely - " I thought it couldn't be worse than going alone. I thought if nothing else, your presence will be diverting. "  
\- " Finally... "  
\- " I don't judge people, I didn't judge you. If anything, I judged you to be dependable. "  
\- " Dependable? " - she let out a single chuckle.  
\- " Yes Piper, dependable. " - I repeated snidely - " Please don't forget you are one of my best people on Voyager, despite everything you do. "  
We shared a brief look before I continued.  
\- " Your transgressions never affected anything concerning your duties, not even Tuvok can deny that. You might think I sleep with the regulations every night, but please don't assume I care one iota that you've refused to get your hair into a bun for the seven hundredth bloody time! Or that furniture in the obs lounge was once again left in a mess. Or that your squad was loud in the gym and a team of science officers were _quote unquote_ 'scared'. " - she couldn't stop herself from smirking - " If I had to put together a roster for a crucial mission, Red Squad, and you would be the first people I picked. "  
\- " Yes, okay. " - she tapped the chair's edges - " I have a sense of duty. We all do. Doesn't mean we're nice. "  
\- " You were nice, before.. _things_ happened on the planet. "  
\- " I wasn't.. uh.. didn't you learn like psychology or something? "  
Well I did.., but...  
\- " I always engage like a fun, happy person, especially since I wanted to... you know. " - sighing, she held a hand up, sort of pointing at me, trying to make a suggestion - " So bad, right?! " - she sized me up from my hips to my tits - " Ever since I saw you in your frickin'... Tomb Raider outfit.. "  
My mind skipped right along the actually meaningful part - " Tomb Raider? "  
\- " It's a holo.., you know a holodeck adventure where you like.., get to rob ancient temples with this hot chick as your companion.., I don't suppose you enjoy programs like that. But the point is, you were.., you are uhm... " - her voice vanished into a faint whisper: " hot. " - clearing her throat she shifted to sit up properly - " Soo.. of course I'm going to be nice. "  
\- " Why do you insist on being so harsh on yourself? "

She didn't look at me, glazing at a random spot instead, moisture gathering in her eyes. I hated seeing her frown, I stepped closer, caressing her face. Grabbing my hand, she pressed stronger into it, taking a stuttering breath. She felt so miserable...  
\- " How do you think this will end, Kathryn? Voyager picks us up and w.. "  
I put a finger on her lips - " Don't talk about that. "  
\- " Kathryn.. " - she stammered on...  
\- " What's wrong Piper? " - I cradled her face, carding some hair away.  
She glanced at me, her eyes bloodshot, lips trembling, tears running on her cheeks. Breaking away gently, her head shook - " Nothing. " - repeatedly.. - " Nothing. "  
Well, that was a lie - " Are you trying to convince me you're the kind who thinks too far ahead? "  
\- " No.. " - she wiped her face, snivelling - " I'm certainly not.. " - a faint smirk managed to appear on those lips.  
\- " Then tell me, what do you feel now? "  
She seemed to be pondering for a few moments, her eyes glinting at mine, then she reached around my hips, effortlessly pulling me into her lap. My heart was immediately racing as if it would want to break out of my chest.. Piper carded the hair out of my face, long moments passing just staring at one another.  
\- " I feel like someone cares about me.. " - she breathed softly - " And it feels really great. "  
I couldn't contain myself any longer, kissing her. A lovely, affectionate smooch - " Let future cares have future cures.. " - I added, finally making her smile.., so wonderfully.  
Sliding into her lap as much as the tall chair permitted, I put myself in a better position. As we started making out however, there was this.. terrible taste on my tongue. I pulled away, grimacing.  
\- " Oh yeah, that milk tastes like ass. "  
We snickered heartily at the same time. She used the time to convulsively wipe the latest tears off her face.  
\- " Would you like something else? "  
\- " Hot chocolate.. with caramel, cream and cinnamon. In that order. " - I hated seeing her cry, but it granted her voice such a raspy, alluring quality..  
I moaned at the thought - " I'm afraid I don't know the.. "  
\- " My tricorder does. "  
\- " Your tricorder has the specs for.. "  
\- " It contains specs for a carefully selected set of edible wonders that make life worth living... "  
I grinned ear-to-ear.  
\- " But uh.. we need a busy bee to interface with the synthesizer properly, and copy it over. "  
\- " Hmm.. I wonder who could do that for us... "  
The making out was fired up again, but only for a few seconds, I pushed myself up, sliding off her...  
\- " Eugh, where's your tricorder? "  
Piper pointed toward her room, laughing in the cutest way...

**« std::endl;**

I moaned aloud, inciting a very lustful look from Piper... The Valorian replicator wasn't all that agreeable to our way of detailing substance data, but it was worth the trouble. Piper's hot chocolate recipe was amazing.  
\- " I can't believe this is replicated. "  
Piper only quirked her brows, glaring at me as she took another sip, the cream leaving a thin moustache above her lips. I held my breath, approaching her, pressing our bodies together as if driven, even though she was sort of leaning on the counter I had to tiptoe like a ballerina to reach her, and lick it off. Then we both couldn't put our mugs down fast enough.  
\- " Do I taste better now? " - she asked after... minutes.  
I merely growled as a response, I couldn't get enough of her lips, her tongue. This cute little softy version of her was such an amazing kisser. She wasn't so much groping me, only fondling gingerly, I found myself extremely fired up all the same. Without her to do it, I was the one initiating, I turned her body to be able to grab her butt, then once I was satisfied squeezing that firm perfection, my hand wondered to the front side, sliding south.

\- " What are you doing..? " - she grabbed my wrist.  
A shudder went through me but I ignored it, ignored her - " It's okay Piper.. "  
Piper had one of those looser fitting boyshorts on underneath, my fingers were able to scout her out rather nicely. Quite satisfying to experience *her* this way too finally, so fluffy, spongy and fat. Instead of just suddenly sprouting out of her, her dick was like a continuation of her crotch, so girthy at the base. However, as I was practically obsessed, I noticed how she tensed up, grabbing the counter with both hands:  
\- " Please stop.. "  
Her tone made me cringe, so I did - " What's wrong? "  
\- " What do you think? " - she escaped my embrace, facing the counter a meter from me.  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " It just feels weird, okay?! - she insisted, avoiding my gaze - " It's embarrassing. Do you need it in writing to finally get it?! "  
\- " It's okay, don't be embarrassed... "  
Her shoulders pulled up, her head hogged she grabbed her coco again. I'm not sure what possessed me to such an extent, but I still didn't get the message. Her profile was so gorgeous, clear view of those lovely spots, her perky saddle nose... I was unable to resist going behind her, snaking my arms around to her abdomen. I pressed into her tightly, my boobs squeezing, she must like that feeling, right?  
\- " Come on Piper.., I'm sure I can help you out.. " - I husked, sneaking my hands under her shirt, running my fingers just below the edge of her shorts.  
She was still tense, frozen, needed to be warmed up...  
" I'm so turned on right now.. "  
\- " STOP! " - she cried out, bumping into me and breaking away violently, pulling her shirt back down - " I'm not, okay?! " - her voice, her face so upset - " I don't feel anything except for this drowning void, I'm cringing constantly! "  
It finally registered for me that she really wasn't having fun. As in, _at all_ the exact opposite.  
\- " I'm sorry P.. "  
\- " Why couldn't you just stop the first fucking time I asked you?! " - she cried out, dashing to her room, banging the door shut.  
I just stood there like a buffoon, excruciatingly disappointed in myself.

**« std::endl;**

Thought about going after her, but eventually decided against it. Instead I went to my room, put on some proper clothes. Couldn't quite believe myself, my nipples were ready to cut glass, it has been so long since I've felt something even remotely like this. That didn't excuse my behaviour though, not in the least. Of course a part of me was glad to have ascertained I still had it in myself to be quite so brazen, so lustful and craving someone. Rest of dear old me was simply appalled I had assaulted Piper in her current state. I could imagine old Piper pulling something like this, but me? Did I change? Was there an old Kathryn Janeway who never would have done this, or at least would have stopped at the first request, but she was now lost, and new Kathryn Janeway couldn't keep her faculties in order when Piper was in the same room?

Was this a classic case of tasting the forbidden fruit and then being quite unable to resist the temptation? I'm not sure what had me more upset, doing what I did or that I've become such a cliché?! It was all Kitty's fault! While talking to yourself might feel comical at times, it's still you doing what you do... Once again this sort of out of body experience crept in, as it wasn't me who did that. Or rather, I didn't actually do it, only thought about it. Or at least there was a chance for a do over. But there wasn't. It really happened. I truly have actually done that. _What the f...?!_

I went back out to the living room, sat on the edge of the couch and.. nothing. I just waited there, hoping I didn't do lasting damage. My heart constantly racing. I don't know if a few minutes or an entire week has passed with me sitting there. The war in my head... trying to convince Kitty Piper was right. I didn't tell her the truth earlier. I thought she was an arrogant bitch. Did I know her at all really? No. What I did know was all the crap concerning her and the entire squad. All the extra laps their behaviour made me run, the operational nightmares their reluctance to accept the Maquis in our crew created. They were often actively and intentionally difficult, forcing issues concerning people they didn't like or respect. Which was the entire damn rest of the crew. I knew this. _I remembered this!_

I meant every word I told her about their sense of duty, though. Garrett, one of her squadmates and Piper herself once nearly got themselves burned to a crisp in phaser maintenance, they deliberately bypassed safety circuits so the indicator on the bridge would light up. Tuvok fired, without knowing Garrett was basically holding the damn injector coupling by hand. Three rows of connectors burned out, momentarily engulfing the room in plasma fires. But that shot disabled the attacking ship. What they did there might have saved us all. Their burns were so bad the Doctor had them sedated for three days. Hard not to like someone with the will, the sheer determination to do something like that. But they were sooo entitled about it.., to the point of hatefulness. This duality describes all of them to a tee, doing heroic things and then assuming the universe itself is revolving around them.  
Despite all of this there, crystal clear, in my head, one fleeting glance at her and... It. All. Went. Away.

**«std::endl;**

My blood chilled when Piper finally emerged. She was all dressed up, in super short shorts of course, and a tight, form-fitting top long enough to only leave about one or two inches visible of it, making it appear even shorter. Her long shapely legs seemed to go on forever...  
\- " I'm going t.. "  
\- " Piper! " - I stood, rushing to her - " I'm so sorry! " - she appeared a bit taken aback by the suddenness of my outburst - " I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me.. "  
\- " It's okay. "  
\- " No it's.. I should be a.. "  
\- " Kathryn, it's alright. I may have overreacted a little. "  
\- " No, you didn't. At all. I should've respected you, your condition, I don't know what made me think that I cou... " - I stopped because she was glaring at me funny.  
\- " Are you done? "  
\- " I'm trying to apologize Piper. "  
\- " You were a... a bit of a.. _horny slut_. " - she shrugged - " It happens. It's uhm, you know.. " - rubbing her forehead she diverted her gaze for a moment - " flattering actually. Maybe not now.. but I'm done crying about stuff, so... Apology accepted. "

~_Well screw you, bitch!_~ Kitty spewed, but *her* next idea would have been assaulting Piper's lips so.. no help there. I guess the shock was her complete disregard of sugar coating things. Yes, this was the perfect way of telling people off. Tell them in no unclear terms what the true nature of their transgression was, _AND_ tell them it's fine. I liked doing this too, in my ready room. We weren't in my ready room. I was on the receiving end. Now that, I didn't like. It stung. Yet I couldn't even protest or complain. Wow this was annoying. No wonder I liked being the captain more than not being the captain.  
\- " Would you like to have breakfast with me? "  
~_Hmm, what?!_~ my inner struggle interrupted, I refocused my eyes on her to see the same irresistibly gorgeous face, smiling. No, grinning.  
\- " Sure.. " - my voice barely came out... these awkward shivers coursing through me, oh I was _SO_ falling for her.  
Besides her hair in a ponytail being a little more conservative than the full-on extremely foxy wavy style of perfection, her attire, her in it, wasn't any less eye-catching than yesterday. Taking a few steps ahead of me and my staring like a zombie proved that all too well.  
\- " Are you sure? "  
\- " Yes Kathryn, I'm sure. " - her tone sharply suggestive.  
\- " Sorry, but you know what I mean. "  
\- " Didn't you urge me to think in the present? "  
~_When?!_~ Oh, yeah. I suppose I did.  
\- " So you know, '_this too shall pass.._' "  
\- " Taking it slow, letting time... " - I stopped because her posing by the kitchen counter, propping her elbow on it, giving me a lopsided expression suggested I should.

She didn't say anything though, besides staring daggers.  
\- " Piper, _it's okay_ to need time.. "  
\- " I don't want time! I'm not letting any of this crap define my behaviour! You're supposed to stand up from a fall, not sit there and cry, holding your knee. "  
\- " This is different Piper, you have to understand that. "  
\- " I do! Don't you think I do?! " - her voice broke up, tears appearing - " Don't you think I fuckin' _feel_ the difference with every fiber of my being?! " - she spun around, taking a step, then turning back - " Why can't you just support me?! "  
\- " I do support you Piper, with all I have! "  
\- " Then say something motivating and come with me? " - she swallowed, biting back her tears - " _Please_! "  
My turn to be emotional.., I walked to her, taking her hand.  
\- " Tough times don't last, _tough people do_. "  
\- " See..? " - she smirked, sniffing - " You're good at this. "  
\- " I'm only afraid.., you can't force this, Piper. "  
Wiping her face, she put her hands on my shoulders:  
\- " I'm not human, okay? Not even a girl. I have to deal with this _my_ way. "  
\- " Which is? "  
\- " Powering through. "  
Moving into the kitchen, she grabbed a bottle from the cooler. Hard liquor actually, taking a hefty gulp of it. After an elongated low growl with her eyes closed, she offered it to me.  
\- " Do you have to drink quite so much for that? " - I replied callously.  
\- " A simple 'no' would've sufficed. "  
\- " I mean it Piper, you are still recovering. "  
\- " From what?! " - she snapped.  
\- " From having a bullet fly through you! "  
\- " Oh, _that_. " - she put the bottle back, making a scornful expression. By the time the hatch was closed I stood there, unmoving and in her way. Sighing exaggeratedly she folded her arms.  
\- " This was my first drink today! "  
\- " You had more than enough yesterday! "  
\- " Here I thought you've JUST said you'd support me! "  
\- " That's exactly what I'm doing! "  
\- " It's just something to take the edge off, could you not do this please..? " - she rounded around me, her tone changed to whiny and annoyed.  
\- " Look, Piper... "  
\- " No! Okay? No, I won't look. Why do you think I'm some sort of fuckin' cliché?! " - richly articulating, she took a pause, taking another breath - " I feel bad about it now. It won't have any positive effect, in fact quite the opposite, and for what? " - she shrugged, opening her arms - " What did this accomplish? I'll never become more partial to your pretentious Federation propaganda, but at least I will feel judged for the next hour and a half. " - sighing she shook her head again - " Thanks for your support. "  
~_Whatever you do Kathryn, don't apologize! She CAN'T have you wrapped around her finger so much!_~  
I watched her walk away towards the door, and actually heard her leave. Sighing to myself, I grabbed my sunglasses and went after her. Had to guess the elevator wouldn't be waiting at this floor, and it wasn't indeed, so I caught up.

**«std::endl;**

I held my breath practically for the whole ride. This level in the complex was taller than the rest, likely occupying the height of two normal storeys. The restaurant used up the entirety of a wide and gently curved protrusion from the building. Last time we sat down inside, but there was a balcony here as well. But we weren't there yet. The area directly in front of the elevators came to a curved wall, entrances to the establishment on each side, the spacious corridors continuing until the glass at the edge of the building, curving out of sight, according to my explorations, leading to more shops and parlours or what have you. There were no rooms on these levels. The corridors were bristling with people though, stumbling up and about, or sitting near the edge, these open areas serving as luxurious lounges.

Piper took a dozen steps from the elevator, coming to a halt and looking around. I stopped next to her and waited.  
\- " Is it me, or are most people here excessively fat? "  
I chuckled - " Well this is an expensive holiday resort, attracting a certain clientèle. " - no it didn't come as a surprise that she seemed to have forgotten about her hissy fit...  
\- " Why do successful people have to be fat? "  
\- " Not all of them are fat... " - but most were, she was right. Race didn't even matter.  
\- " The chicks too tho... " - her gaze snapped to the entrance - " Look at her. Maybe there ain't anything left for us to eat. "  
A particularly heavy-set Valorian woman was exiting the restaurant, her dress was bulging at every conceivable spot, one had to expect the ground would tremble where she passed. I snickered, stepping closer to Piper. More evidence of the existence of a new Kathryn Janeway, the old one never would've laughed at that lady.  
\- " People rich enough for this place should be rich enough to afford good looking pu... you know, women. "  
Grinning widely, I understood the first phrase too - " Maybe that's what they find attractive. "  
\- " Why are they stealing glances at me then? "  
\- " Maybe they find you so ugly, they can't stop themselves... "  
Piper turned to me, smirking - " They are looking at you too... "  
\- " I suppose I'm ugly too. "

Cradling my face gently, she leaned down a little, her mouth a little open, hesitating. I missed the Piper that would simply do what she wanted, at the same time I was more than happy to provide the required little push. I closed the gap and kissed her...  
Temperate Piper was such a great kisser, gentle and easy, yet still playful and not afraid to utilize her tongue. The way she played with it, the soft, wet touch of her lips made my skin crawl, in the best possible sense. As in, sexy and unusual, nevertheless always making me wish the moment would never end.  
\- " No you're not. " - she breathed as she pulled away, rolling her sexy, puffy lip between her teeth...  
A moment later the lard tub and her man passed us, both looking at us. Noticeably. I mean, I had to imagine Piper's mind may have been a little too sensitive, largely only imagining that '_everyone_' was looking at her, but they really did give us both a glare. I wasn't sure what to make of it, we weren't that different as far as general features go. Features of our species of course, neither of us had an extra hundred kilos.  
Piper seemed to have picked up on it too - " Do Valorians have super sensitive hearing or something? " - she whispered.  
\- " If they do I'm not aware of it. " - we both kept looking at them, walking away from us now.  
\- " Hey _fat bitch_, your dress is tearing across your arse... " - she said, at a gentle enough volume for the commotion of the corridors to completely drown it out. For our hearing anyway.  
I couldn't swallow my snorty chuckle in time, turning away, glaring somewhere in the direction of Piper's clavicles. Then I glanced up, she was still looking sideways.  
\- " Well, she didn't turn. " - she looked at me, grinning - " Maybe you _are_ ugly. "  
We snickered, eventually proceeding into the restaurant. As we made it to the ranks of foodstuffs on display, Piper was decidedly less sure of herself than I would have deemed normal.

\- " Are you alright? " - I asked as we were grabbing a plate each.  
\- " No, but that was to be expected... " - she skipped away dismissively, and I realized that asking her a few more stupid questions wouldn't help.  
Instead, I began to take in the smells and the sights, the arrangements were absolutely incredible, just like yesterday. An army of Neelixes... actually, what's the plural of Neelix? Neeli-ai? Anyway, an army of _talaxian cooks_ couldn't be enough to make these. All the gourmet foodstuffs weren't enough to make me forget Piper, she seemed timid and ill at ease just like yesterday. I wanted her.. I mean, I wanted to help her.  
\- " You know, maybe if you had something to think about... " - I eased very close to her - " instead of all these people... " - my face brushing into her bare shoulder - " This might be easier... "  
Smirking, she turned around, easing into my arm snaking downward - " Mhm.. like you? "  
\- " Like me... " - I grinned, trying to look my most alluring..  
Leaning down she gave me a fleeting smooch, brushing her face into my hair, moaning very quiet - " You do smell better than the food... "  
We shared a long smiling glance, Piper letting go of me and moving away again. As I looked up from the counter my gaze immediately crossed two... aliens across the same isle, glaring. ~_What the..._~  
A minute later my plate was getting rapidly stacked with bites of most everything, Piper approached me again, only a huge, almost completely intact fish and the tail of ... of something else on hers.  
\- " Don't you want something with those? " - the volume might have been enough for even that earlier lady, but come on...  
She shrugged, her lips lopsided, but then bumped her plate forward, next to mine.  
~_Piper you big baby..._~ I fetched her some from the two nearby side-dish looking vegetable concoctions. Her smile was more than enough as thanks. She took off toward the balcony, but I just had to get some of that red algae looking thing from the last bowl.

**«std::endl;**

The balcony felt maybe even more upscale than the interior. Not sure why, I don't think there was a difference, I mean, you didn't have to pay extra to sit down out here. Or maybe you did, I have no idea. We had everything paid for, so nothing ever beeped and booped. There were these scanning pylons here and there, I've seen people fiddle with them from time to time, but we never had to. Or maybe we just didn't, and the local police would show up at any moment. Either way, I didn't see any of the resident Neeli-ai yelling and running at us, so I followed Piper to the table she picked. The same holographic shadow-casting technology followed everyone out here too, except the waiters. You had to pick your own food but the drinks were handled by them. I must say sitting in a nice little shade, right next to the balustrades of the balcony, still hundreds of meters above ground was a special kind of awesome. The ocean looked amazing, the beach looked amazing, then this gorgeous hottie sitting across from me...

We shared a couple of empty notions about the sights, maybe not empty from my point of view, but Piper didn't seem to paying too much attention. She was however dissecting that fish right away, talking to the waiter about our drinks had been little else than a distraction to her. Without trying to introduce yet another thing she was extremely good at, the way she handled the fish was magic. The reason I never overly enjoyed eating fish in particular was that it took a long time for me, always too preoccupied with forgetting a splinter and suffocating at the table. And when people say "most of them are delicate enough to chew"... if I ever try it just ends up pricking my gums and I start crying so... that's that. But for Piper the fish seemed to automatically come apart, bone from flesh, ready to be stuffed in her mouth.

\- " You really enjoy seafood..? " - I asked after minutes, I was already tired just watching how fast she was putting it away.  
\- " Yeah... you don't? " - she replied, her mouth half full.  
\- " It's not that, I do, ... you seem to be more than partial to it.. " - I smiled - " What's your favourite dish? " - for the record, I picked dishes where none of the earlier was of any concern, and I could eat just as leisurely as her.  
\- " Sushi. " - she answered without hesitation - " If that's a dish. I really like a good steak too, but if I can only say one, it's sushi. "  
Our conversation went slowly, I didn't want to bother her constantly.  
\- " Is there a reason? Have you always liked the fruits of the sea? "  
\- " I did. Myr'Mur, the city I'm from, it's a huge metropolis, but it's by the ocean. And the Klingons don't like fish and similar things, so we all do. " - she grinned lopsidedly, but I was hung up on something else, smirking uncontrollably.  
\- " Myr'Mur? " - I chuckled.  
\- " It's not funny, _or unusual_, in our language, _you silly human_. "  
\- " I'm sorry.. " - I offered, jokingly of course.

\- " Anyway, apparently there is no honour in catching things with hooks and nets, but you know, that thing they always do, attack from the veil of their cloak on unsuspecting ships who don't even have their shields up, like cowards hiding in shadows, that's very honourable. " - her words were lined with such contempt...  
\- " You don't like Klingons, do you? " - but I didn't take it all that seriously. Yet.  
\- " The officers controlling our district... I still remember every single one of them, I haven't seen them in a decade, and yet I hate each of them more than all the Rakaav on that ship put together. " - she shook her head, grimacing - " I think that speaks volumes. " - sighing, she put her cutlery down - " Let's not talk about the Klingons. "  
\- " I'm sorry.., I didn't know you had such strong feelings about them. " - I truly did not, had no idea, was baffled a little in fact.  
\- " Well I do. " - she added, curt and abrupt, after taking a sip from her wine.  
\- " What about B'Elanna? " - I felt like I had to ask.  
\- " Can't help the family you're born into. " - Piper replied without thinking, her tone nonchalant - " She hates Klingon stuff too, so... " - she shrugged - " ..whatever. I just think she's really ugly. "  
\- " The forehead? "  
\- " Mhmm.., what else? She had that... squiggly.. " - she raised a hand, making a wobble with her index finger, she was so cute - " what do you call that..? "  
\- " Perm. "  
\- " Perm! " - she could snap her fingers so loud.., it sounded like bones were breaking - " Yeah.., for a while. That helped. "  
~_You have a perm too, you nutter, only a very different style. Stop slaying me with your cuteness..._~  
\- " You like curly hair? "  
\- " I like _your_ hair. "  
I smiled.., despite not being able to I see her eyes thanks to her sunglasses, the rest of her expression was flirty enough... - " Seriously, though..? "

She started eating again so the answer came delayed - " I like long hair. Wavy.., random, like mine. Good luck with that though, in Starfleet. "  
I snickered heartily, then she did too.  
\- " What am I up to now... I think it's fifty something. "  
\- " What? "  
\- " As if you didn't know.. " - she tilted her head, chuckling - " Citations. I don't get them any more with a pony tail tho', even if it's long and doesn't have ten more scrunchies in it.. "  
\- " You made Tuvok relent..? "  
\- " It would seem. "  
I grinned, shifting my position in my chair - " I might have to talk to him... "  
Piper sneered, looking very amused - " So what kinda hair do _you_ like? "  
\- " I like _your_ hair. "  
Her smile was worth this entire conversation - " It's not very boyish tho', is it? "  
\- " So..? "  
\- " Well you're supposed to like boys' hairstyles. "  
_~I've never been attracted to a 'boy' as I'm attracted to you...~ ... ~Do I say that now, or later? Later.~_  
\- " Maybe I like long hair on _boys_... "  
\- " Did your fiancé have long hair? "  
That made me giggle - " No... "  
Since I didn't say anything more, there was a breath of silence, finishing her latest mouthful, Piper took another sip, leaning back in her chair... I felt her eyes burning through those glasses, so I took one as well.

\- " Tell me about him... "  
A shiver coursed through me - " Why? "  
She let out a short chuckle - " You were ready to marry the man.. " - shrugging, she tilted her head for a moment, those lips smiling so sly - " Why? "  
Interesting... When I told people I was getting married, I was congratulated to varying degrees, some went 'woah..', nobody asked: Why? ~_Why did I want to marry him?_~  
\- " I suppose I was in love with him. "  
\- " You suppose? "  
\- " Piper... " - I sighed, squirming in my chair.  
\- " Was he hot? Were you attracted to him? "  
\- " There is more to attraction than physical appearance. "  
\- " So they tell me... " - her lips took on such a guileful curve - " He wasn't hot then. "  
\- " Not by your definition, I don't think.. "  
\- " Are there multiple definitions? "  
\- " Like I said,.. "  
\- " Yes, yes: more than meets the eye, of course. " - she tossed her food around, deciding not to take a bite but continue, to my detriment - " What does he do? "  
\- " He has a degree in philosophy, so.. "  
\- " So nothing. " - she chuckled with obvious enjoyment, when you see someone grin so widely, they aren't all that loud but are deriving a great deal of guilty pleasure...  
While I found it minutely funny in the sense that I was painfully aware who I was talking to, I gave her a callous look of a disappointment.  
\- " I'm sorry.. " - shaking her head, still manically sneering - " I'm sorry... it's just, a philosopher and a starship captain. How does that even happen? I mean, how would you even meet? "  
\- " We've met very early on actually, born in the same city. "  
\- " Ah.. " - Piper nodded with great exaggeration - " Of course.., that's cheating. Older than you I presume. "  
\- " Is there a point to this? " - I asked, intentionally making my tone bring an abrupt change to the conversation.  
\- " You don't like talking about him..? "  
\- " I don't like being made fun of. "  
\- " I'm not making fun of you. " - she shrugged, her brows furrowing above her glasses - " Him, maybe, but come on. "  
Without moving or taking a breath to speak I raised a brow.

She sighed - " Fine, a last one then? "  
Frozen like a statue I waited on.  
\- " Why? What makes it hard for you to talk about him? "  
My turn to let the air out of my lungs, silently this time, tilting my head. Then I looked toward the ocean, actually thinking about it.  
\- " What was it you've said? About hope? It's a delusion.. "  
\- " It's the _quintessential_ delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, ... "  
\- " and our greatest weakness. " - I finished it for her, bitterly, nodding - " When the real reality of our situation struck, I've.. built a fortress, a castle for that hope. And when I got that letter, it turned out.., what I thought was made of solid granite, were only cards instead. " - And the fact that I'm probably gonna be alone for the rest of my life hit me like a warp core explosion. But I wasn't going to tell her that. In spite of what I came to expect, she seemed genuinely moved.  
\- " I'm sorry.. "  
\- " We've all missed something in the Alpha Quadrant. My story is no more special than anyone else's. "  
\- " What did I miss? "  
\- " A war? "  
She sighed, bitter and quiet - " A war... " - Piper was so different, I didn't expect her to be quite so dispassionate about this - " If I fought in that war I might have died in that war. " - she looked over to the ocean - " Of course I could've died here... but I didn't. " - sighing, her voice lowered - " For better or worse. "  
\- " Don't say that Piper... " - what sort of fool was I, bringing this up? ~_Damn it!_~  
Her face remained toward the horizon, I could see her lips quavering...  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " I'm fine.. " - she snapped back, sniffling - " I'm fine.. " - resetting her posture in the chair, she grabbed her cutlery.  
\- " If ... "  
\- " I said I was fine! " - we both chilled after that, Piper taking a deep breath, easing out - " Could we talk about.., you know: something inconsequential, like.., your favourite colour? "  
I let a few moments pass in silence before my quip - " Is my favourite colour inconsequential? "  
She's taken a bite from her fish, her lips curving into a wide smile...

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~22~ :: Swim..._


	22. Swim

_**Author's Note:** Sorry for the delay. The chapter ended up being more than 10k words so I split it, and I'm posting the promised 'Tipsy' very soon._

**.**  
**Chapter ~22~ :: Swim**  
**.**

Shortly after we got back to our apartment Piper dozed off on the balcony again. In a bikini again. According to her, this would be merely a short shuteye, unlike yesterday's sleeping marathon. I didn't mind either way, she could sleep all she wanted. In fact, this time I was glad I had some alone time, gave me a chance to be a little naughty. That's stretching it, all I did was put on _my bikini_. It was orange, and it was small. I'm not sure what possessed me to pack it in the first place. A better question would be, why did I have it on Voyager at all? Well.., because I wasn't supposed to go home after the mission. We were to deposit the captured Maquis on Deep Space 9, then Mark and I were scheduled to meet on Bajor. So all the pretty things I had with me, I had because of plans that never came to fruition. After getting lost on the wrong side of the Milky Way I didn't think I would ever wear any of them again. I didn't think I would fit into any of them actually.., in a way that didn't cause onlookers to go blind, anyway.

However, things changed. ~_You look fuckin' great.._~ Kitty quickly pointed out, as I was glaring at myself in the mirror. All the things Piper said about my looks were ringing in my ear. These thoughts were very selfish, but if I wanted to be honest, the only reason I came in here was to feel _very good_ about myself. I resolved to make a few changes after that damn letter. Never have I tried to make them obvious to people, but now that they were made obvious to one person, I can't say I didn't like hearing her compliments. I've adjusted the bra about a hundred million times before I accepted the fact that pulling it a little to the left then a little to the right will never make that bite-sized triangular piece of fabric any bigger. The straps had these small, shiny, metallic parts.., the panties even had a small V shaped cut in the front, so there could be a metal piece across it. They needed to be knotted on both sides, the bra on the back, I wasn't kidding when I said they were small. That was the point though, I quickly reminded myself.

I leaned onto the basin, letting my breath out, practically trembling. Then I giggled, like someone gone bonkers. I was SO nervous, reminded of my sixteen-year-old self. Realized we had a lot in common, neither of us wanted to look great for anyone in the preceding six years... Gazing at the mirror some more, I've established my usual makeup just wouldn't do. Piper was always so gorgeous, mixing her looks up too, and she wasn't even a girl. We actually had the same applier, well same make anyway. I think hers counted as the latest model when we were displaced. More important however, mine only had two configurations programmed into it, the Captain's mask and the other Captain's mask. No color to speak of, despite my apparently inexhaustible capacity to be content with mediocrity, I hated that now. I grabbed Piper's gadget, but after fiddling with it for a short a while I realized it was broken. It could still apply a whole face of makeup with a single click, but the display wasn't functioning, no preview. One could only distinguish the programs by their name. That might have been enough for Piper, but names like "sexy", "sexyy", "sexyyy" or "asdfrt" meant very little to me. Good thing I was a rocket scientist, able to figure this out. Her tricorder! They must be able to interface.

Once I peeked out onto the balcony and made sure she was still snoozing I fired it up. It became obvious to me in the jungle that Piper regarded this thing as much more than a tricorder. Thanks to its holographic interface it had the ease of use of a PADD, with the added benefits of a multitude of sensors and far larger capacity. I dare say I was able to achieve my goals quite professionally and in a timely manner, as if I were trained in hacking and espionage or something. Her tricorder was more than capable of interfacing with both my and her applier, so I cloned all the programs to mine as well. Once again I felt a little bit like a buffoon, trembling and trying so hard to be pretty... Either way, I picked one of the more natural-looking configurations and ordered the rebelling noises in my head to shut the hell up. Satisfied my mission was accomplished I put the gadgets back to exactly where they used to be, visiting the balcony again, Piper was still indisposed, so my... 'Kitty' got the better of me yet again, tiptoeing back to the bedroom I revisited the tricorder.

Piper kept a diary in it. Kitty or no Kitty, reading that would be wrong on every level, but I found pictures as well. This thing could take pictures? I flipped it around, checking the sensors, indeed it could. Not exactly a holo-imager like the Doctor's, the one he became much too obsessed with, but good enough for mementos. Knowing her well enough, the fact that there was absolutely zero organization didn't surprise me; all.., thousands of them were in a single folder, ordered oldest to newest. Looking at the latest one I already found the culprits who raided Chakotay's clandestine booze stash... He was upset about that, a day or two before we left. I should've... He should've known, it was Warren's birthday. Part of Piper's Red Squad contingent. The picture showed him, Piper and Amber, another from the squad, and a bottle, in the unmistakeable shape of Saryan brandy. For the picture, the girls utilized locks of each other's hair to fashion a mustaches for themselves. I smiled widely, remembering how she claimed she had no friends...

Without really thinking on how this wasn't all that different from reading her diary I kept flicking the holographics, going through the pictures. Once I saw crew quarters in worse state than a hull-breach would leave it, with a certain Ensign unconscious on the sofa, I've decided I don't have to see every single one of them. Flicking harder I skipped over dozens at a time, until I got to a particular one. I literally felt my eyes widen, gasping I turned the device over, automatically switching its displays off. Glancing around the room, I had such a rush pulsating in me, as if I would've been caught red-handed. Swallowing, I immediately got up, walked to the balcony door and peeked, making sure Piper was still sleeping. Since indeed she was, I sneaked back to the bed, turning the tricorder right side up again. The image wasn't any less shocking the second time around.

It showed.. Ensign Sharr? She was an exec officer, often on bridge duty. Such a polite, sweet girl, her long hair always in some elaborate braid to conform with the standing uniform code. Not so much in the picture... Her red uniform was nowhere to be found either, she was naked, gazing with such lust to somewhere near the camera... Only Piper's quintessential part was visible, most of it inside Ensign Sharr. She was riding her. In the phaser maintenance tube. That's the only room on board Voy.. on board _my ship_ that looks like this. Behind those dark segments where the beams are generated the outer hull is accessible, to give easy access to the hundreds of injector couplings powering the phaser battery. The couplings look like exposed wires plugged into four rows of large connectors, all along the heavily slanted bulkhead. You can't stand in there, but holding onto the wires above while straddling someone clearly must be very comfortable.

Crossing my legs I shifted my pose, glancing around the room and clearing my throat. Immediately regretting making any noises whatsoever. I flicked to the next image.., there were more. Many more. I didn't understand how can Piper have over dozen times as many pictures as days have passed in the Delta Quadrant, but it's understandable if she takes dozens during a single... _sexcapade_. My heart was racing, feeling so hot suddenly. That room was hot too, all the time, exposed electro-plasma wiring makes enclosed spaces very warm very fast. The coolant tubes and the environmental system is compensating, but still. The girl's body was glistening with sweat in every picture, in the warm orange lighting of the same wires. Ensign Sharr was the focus of course, so I was sufficiently weirded out and turned on at the same time. The angles, seeing parts of Piper like this were so hot, an arm, hand holding her neck, her.. _issue_ inside her. Then I got to one taken by the girl, lying on her tummy, extending her arms away, holding the camera, her face warped by pleasures, her eyes narrowed and glinting, as Piper was holding her hair, her hip, ... oh fffff...

I threw the tricorder face down on the sheets, springing up. ~_What a slut! ... I really shouldn't be looking at this stuff!_~ Not because of Piper, honestly, however I knew then and there that I would never look at Ensign Sharr the same way ever again, and who knows how many more of my crew are in there?! I was all hot and bothered pacing up and down. My hand wandered inadvertently, or maybe only partially inadvertently, to my boob (the left one, the slutty one), my nipple trying to shred through the tiny fabric of the bikini. I peeked out the door again, but Piper was still snoozing in the same exact pose, so at least I had time. Time, for what?! I wasn't about to.. _have a session_ with Piper's secret cache of Voyager porn, surely... No.., no. I had to make this go away. Seeing Piper in exactly that lewd and arrh... affected me so profoundly, as if I wasn't already pining so much over her... First, I grabbed the tricorder and exited everything I opened, it wouldn't do if those pictures came up immediately when Piper turns it on. Then, I locked myself in the bathroom on my side for a cold shower...

**«std::endl;**

After putting my bikini and my face back on _once again_, I've gone out to the balcony. Piper was _still_ snoozing... I hated my selfishness but I really didn't want to spend the day in the apartment again. It was fine yesterday, it really was, the quiet and the serenity was a welcome distraction from the constant flurry of people and messy catastrophes, but there was a whole huge beach and who knows what else out there. Piper ate and slept so much she should have been able to regenerate every cell in her body. As for that other thing, the thing that still gave me the wrong kind of hot rush everytime I thought about it, which made me want to punch something... Well that was still there, but she wanted to power through right? You can't 'power through' hundreds of meters above sea level, sleeping on a secluded balcony... _~Am I a terrible person?~ ... ~I'm probably a terrible person~_

But I just wanted to be with her so much, do stuff. Sleeping must have its healing powers, but having fun in the sun, _with me_, should help too right? I knelt down by the sofa, there was this very soft, thick elliptical carpet around it, the act wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as it may sound. Stretching my arms out on the cushion I laid my head on one of them, staring at Piper. She was all I thought about. I loved how peaceful she seemed to be whilst sleeping. I couldn't bring myself to intentionally rouse her, leaving me to hope the power of my mind would do it. Eventually she awoke, blinking for a fraction of a second, opening her eyes wide immediately after, tensing up, then coming down from it.  
\- " Kathryn..! " - she closed her eyes, boring into the pillow - " What are you doing? "  
\- " Watching you sleep.. "  
\- " Why? " - those globes were glinting at me again, so mysterious, the soft chuckle accompanying the question was just as lovely. Seriously though, those eyes... The people the 'evil' possessed in yesterday's film had blank, pitch black eyes as one of their identifying differences. Piper's were a little less creepy than that, but her iris was huge, the white around it thin, barely there. And her iris, therefore everything else in the center was impossibly dark. When you imagine 'attractive' that's really not the picture that comes to mind, but something about it...

Instead of replying, I got up, sitting onto the bed, propping myself on my arms right behind me. ~_No I wasn't posing, shut up!_~  
\- " I like sleeping here... " - she kept rubbing her cheek into the pillow - " That thing.. " - pointing at the holographic sun blocker - " is the best idea ever. "  
\- " Hmm.. " - I chuckled softly - " Yeah, we ought to send the design back with the next data stream. "  
Piper squirmed around, eventually bending her back, extending her arm out, resting her head on it, looking at me...  
\- " That's a... uhm.. mmhmm... " - her eyes slowly lifted to mine, when she began the cutest giggling - " I no longer have to worry about people staring at me, huh? "  
\- " Oh.. " - I looked down, over myself.. Piper bursting into laughter.  
\- " Oh..! She said: oh...! " - oh I so enjoyed her giggling, joining in too, without really knowing what she found so funny - " Please say: 'oh this ol' thing, I didn't even know I was wearing it...' "  
I laughed out, realizing I actually had something vaguely similar in my mind.. Eventually her snickering stopped, she reached toward me, but ended up only barely caressing my arm - " You are very beautiful Kathryn... " - ... - " ...Your skin is so perfect. "  
Right after that she straightened, stretching her entire body. My words were pretty much chilled into me, gawking as she arched a little to the left, a little to the right... Finally I put a hand on her abdomen, caressing featherly, the touch inducing such an electric response in me. Piper reacted as well, letting the air out, lifting up to a sitting position with those impeccable abs of hers.  
\- " Everything about you is perfect Piper... "  
Propped on her arms, her body close to mine, she smiled - " If only that were true... " - leaning closer she brushed our faces together, culminating in a ginger little kiss on my cheek.

While it felt so wonderful, she proceeded to crawl out of the bed, leaving me aching for so much more. In another quantum reality envisioned by Kitty, Piper grabbed my neck and pushed me down onto the bed, darting her tongue into my mouth, pushing my legs apart for her big... ~Kitty needs to shut _the hell up_!~  
\- " Let's go down to the beach, huh?! " - she asked, gazing below by the balustrades.  
\- " Sure.. " - I replied happily, still in a bit of a daze.  
She quickly disappeared into her bedroom, I'd assume to get ready. Although she was perfect the way she was.. but I've decided to put on something for the ride in the elevator and etc. I chose a short, loose robe really inadequate as anything other than a 'something' to have on your swimsuit. I couldn't imagine her doing much more than me, but I ended up waiting for her in the kitchen, even after I've taken a gulp from some juice in the fridge.  
\- " Piper..? " - I called out, curiously leaning onto the counter.  
\- " I'm coming.. " - I didn't like her voice...  
As I imagined she didn't put on a thing, the only change was her hair pinned up, and she already had her glasses on. Busy wiping across her nose and face as she came out, all red...  
\- " Are you all right? "  
\- " Yeah.., sure.. " - she snivelled, quite obviously everything but.  
\- " No you're not... " - I whispered, frowning, my mood, my outlook on the situation shifting rapidly into something dark and sad.  
Giving up, she slid onto the opposite counter, taking off and throwing away the glasses. Unable to control the convulsions anymore she sobbed, covering her face.  
\- " I'm sorry... " - her voice was piping, pushing me to the very edge of crying too - " Sometimes it's all I can think about.., I.. when you touched me... "  
\- " I'm sorry..! "  
\- " Don't be sorry! " - from her tone and gestures, she wasn't arguing with me, rather with the world, wasn't even looking at me - " I want you to touch me, I want you to... huh.. " - her voice faded, breaking out bawling.

What a shallow idiot I was again, I should've been thinking about ways to help her, not about being fuckin' pretty... I wish I had... I would've given anything for the power to make this simply go away, to fix it for her.  
\- " Why did they let me remember this? " - she cried - " Couldn't doctor whoever just block the memories or something? " - she glared at me, I had no idea what to tell her - " Say something! "  
I took a step forward - " I wish it were that simple Piper... "  
She reached for my arm, pulling me in. I skipped along gladly, embracing her as fully as I could, letting her cry it out.  
Short while passed, but then she pushed me away, jumping off the counter, visibly shaking - " Why didn't they just kill me? " - hearing her say that made me want to split something in half, and I wasn't even the violent type - " Why did they... How can anyone... " - her fists clenched, there was such tension inside her, wandering aimlessly in the kitchen - " I don't even... " - finally bumping into the counter at the sink, she stopped - " I'm feeling nauseous... "  
I took steps closer, about to ask something but she was faster to continue - " Do you know what a dog's dick look like? "  
~_What?!_~ - " Yes... " - I answered sort of automatically, too surprised..  
\- " That's what _their_ dicks look like. " - she banged on the counter - " Why am I telling you this?! " - banged again, with both hands and harder - " Why the fuck do I even KNOW!? " - heaving uncontrollably, she turned around, grimacing, holding the bridge of her nose..  
\- " Would you like a drink of water.., maybe sit down? "  
\- " No! Fuck this! " - she snivelled loud and violent, wiping her face - " Fuck all of this! Let's go to the beach. "  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " No! It's all in my head. It's all just in my head. " - she broke for the fridge - " I simply need to calm down. "  
I poured her the water anyway, in the glass that I used earlier - " I'm sure there's a Doctor's office here, we could ask them for something to help.. "  
\- " Yes, some random chemicals in my brain.., why don't we... " - she emerged from the refrigerator with a bottle of booze, grabbing the glass I prepared - " Fuck water. " - she growled, splashing it into the sink.  
\- " Piper... "  
\- " It's different! " - I didn't even ask about that yet, but good guess - " Alcohol dissolves the... like the sheathing around the neurons right? So neural action becomes slower, less pinpointed... That's just what I need. "  
While that was a reasonably well constructed abstraction about what alcohol does, I didn't even know where to start pointing out all the things wrong with that statement. She poured herself a hefty amount in that fat drinking glass, and I didn't stop her. Maybe I should've, I couldn't decide. I thought if this turned into a marathon of gulping such wads then I'd stop her. Not at the first one.

She swallowed it staggeringly fast, her face turning into a disgusted grimace - " Aww.. fuck! " - she gasped, banging the glass back onto the counter and flicking it away, continuing to breathe fast and heavy. Her face quickly turned into a frown again though, her eyes shut, the sobbing creeping back.  
Without waiting for a sign from her this time, I went and hugged again, her arms enveloping me soon after. Eventually she shifted, hugging and pressing into me even tighter. The only thing smuggling something remotely good into this situation was the way I felt her derive some form of support from me, calming down slowly...  
After a long while she eased up - " I'm so glad you're here... " - cradling my cheeks she held me a few inches from her face - " I'm so glad I can... you know... "  
\- " Of course Piper... Anything you need... " - I put my hands around her cheeks too - " You'll... _We'll_ get through this.. "  
She kissed me gingerly, straightening up and wiping her face..  
I had the bright idea to go for the paper towels nearby, grabbing enough of the quilted goodness for the both of us. The next noises were lots of nose blowing and everything related, until I heard chuckle...  
\- " Look at us, huh?! " - we were so miserable.. - " Some vacation, huh?! "  
I didn't reply, I didn't know how. Didn't know what to tell her. I felt so bad, but it's impossible to weave that into a sentence without sounding stupid. I mean, couldn't shake this feeling that if I tell her how terrible I feel about all of this it would just come out as if I was trying to overshadow her problems with my meaningless ones. Whatever I felt was simple penance for letting her go through what she did. I was also absolutely certain I had no idea about what she felt. You might read about such trauma, listen to seminars on the matter, the ugly truth in the end will stay the same: you haven't the first clue about what's inside the head of a person who actually experiences it. So I just reached up to her face, fondling her cheek, eventually tiptoeing and giving her a soft kiss.  
She smiled, kissing me back the same way - " Let's go to the beach... "  
I didn't want to think on what a mess I must've looked like, but Piper had the bright idea, splashing her face several times in the sink, then blowing through a few more paper towels.

**« std::endl;**

I was so glad to be wearing slippers in the sand... This is why it's very important to experience real things outside the holodeck too. In the vast majority of the programs the realism of the simulation is warped for convenience. A program of a beach for example, will have warm sand, but not scalding hot oh-I-will-burn-to-death sand. A case can be made for the warm sand, nothing beats reality though. Not to mention how bad the physics of the faux sand are... it looks great, but it feels about as real as reading about it.  
Once we were past the plethora of pools, they layered pools, the waterpark, the stage for something, the many beach bars, we finally got to the sand part. The beach was blanketed with comfy beds with holographic sunbrellas over them. Perhaps it shouldn't have come as a surprise that most people were by the pools, the actual ocean wasn't packed at all. I beelined to a set of beds, detecting our presence it 'started up', a lovely Valorian showing up with a set of towels less than a minute later. Piper never sat down though, eyeing the small island in the distance.  
\- " Don't you want to swim across? "  
\- " What about our stuff? "  
\- " What stuff? " - she looked over me - " Why did you bring anything? "  
\- " I brought clothes Piper, not.. "  
\- " And you're already settling in... " - this was the point where the server came over... - " You just wanna lie here? "  
\- " We can go for a swim, it's no... "  
\- " I don't wanna _go for a swim_, I wanna swim across! "  
~_Well, somebody is in a mood..._~  
\- " Then we swim across..! "  
\- " What about all your shit? "  
Swallowing the choice of words I stood up - " I'll just leave them here. "  
Nodding, she simply started walking away. She didn't have anything with her, apart from her sunglasses. I left them on too, leaving the rest of it.  
There were these rather awesome-looking hoverjets or whatever they might be call out on the water, their base of operations seemed to be a sizeable building right by the water. Piper spent most of the walk toward the water staring at it. Anyway, we didn't have an exchange about anything further. I sure hoped her gloom wouldn't last all afternoon, maybe the swim would clear her mind...

Once in the water, Piper took off. And I do mean, took off. I didn't expect conversation while swimming, but she was so much faster than me, apparently paying no mind to that. I couldn't stay mad at her for too long, after all such activities are most enjoyable on your own pace. Which is exactly why I didn't decide to kill myself trying to match her speed, and settled into a leisurely one.  
The island didn't look to be too far away, but crossing the distance in the water ended up a little more daunting than I anticipated. Not that I ran out of breath, it simply became a little repetitive. Anyway, once I made it across I could see that we didn't manage to get away from the ultramodern facilities of the mainland, the beach of the island was just as well furnished. Since I believe the only way to come here was actually swimming, the amount of fat people and ugly aliens was much lower than at the hotel. I showered off the salt water and basically ran to Piper in the hot sand.  
She picked a double bed spot, laid out the same way as on the main beach. Her side of the shades was switched off though, she was sunbathing. I couldn't just skip over the fact her already tiny shorts were pulled a little lower, and a little higher on the thighs. _The spots_ were visible, some anyway. The ones right above her junk...  
\- " Hey.. " - she called out, sort of breaking my daydream, good thing I had my glasses on.  
\- " Hey.., you were pretty fast... "  
\- " Mhm... You weren't. " - she grinned, activating a low level shade on her side too. ~_Are we still in a mood?_~ I thought to myself, but she seemed.. relaxed. I felt like she was only joking.

I gave her a complacent grimace, grabbing the towel from the other bed, about to lay down, but she reached out for me. Turning, she took my hand, pulling me rather unmistakably onto herself. She even tapped my knee, indicating I should straddle her. At least that's what I interpreted, and with a faint " I'm still wet.." - I did, my towel landing half across my back. The swim already had me at a moderate loss of breath, this apparent flash of old Piper made my heart race even faster. I leaned so that my head would cast a proper shadow on her face. Then I leaned further, since once again I felt that little nudge was required. Her hand on my shoulder stopped me though.  
Piper knocked her sunglasses up her forehead, those lovely eyes coming into view, narrowed, fluttering against the ambient light. In this moment I was just.., like waiting, practically no heartbeat, no nothing, the anticipation of why could she possibly decide to not want a kiss from me.., killing me.  
\- " What are we doing, Kathryn? "  
Now the pain in my throat started up - " What do you mean? "  
\- " I mean if nothing.. you know, nothing _bad_ happens to me, and we just get rescued automatically because.., whatever, and end up here. What would we be doing then? "  
Leaning back up a little, a removed my glasses too - " I uh.. I don't know, pretty much the same? "  
We kept glaring at each other, I'm not saying it was easy to maintain eye-contact, but I battled through.  
\- " Why do you ask? "  
\- " It's uhm... " - she looked away for a moment, swallowing - " You.., really don't hate... me? "  
The deathly anxiety started to ease in me, replaced by something entirely different - " Why would I hate you Piper..? "  
\- " Cos of what I did? "  
\- " You've saved me! Both of us! "  
\- " No, I mean, on the planet... " - she kept shaking her head - " Before.., the Rakaav. "  
\- " No... " - I caressed her cheek - " Do you _want_ me to hate you? "  
\- " No.. " - she let out a befuddled chuckle - " No, why would I..? "  
\- " Why are you suggesting that I'm... "  
\- " I just.. want to make sure, you know.., you're not.. _nice_ to me because you feel like you owe me. "  
_~Oh Piper, my favourite idiot, we've been over this already~_ \- " I do owe you. " - I replied in a serious tone, easing up - " But no, I'd like to think I'm nice to you because I'm a nice person... And.., I want to kiss you, because... " - wow this wasn't nearly as easy as I thought before starting this sentence... - " because I really, really want to kiss you. "  
Piper smiled, blinking so rapidly, even her lips shaking a little, quietly letting her breath out.  
\- " You don't want to kiss me..? " - I asked since she didn't reply.  
Suddenly, she did, lifting up and pouncing at my lips... I was so filled with emotion, this was possibly our best smooch yet. Her concerns were so unexpected, but from the way she put her hands on me now I thought I could be sure about that she felt _something_. Something isn't much of course, but honestly I didn't even know what I felt toward her. I was too afraid to dare think anything, so I didn't, and just enjoyed these perfect moments.

When we pulled apart, half her face was in the sun, she flinched, rearranging my towel like a hood, snickering faintly once her eyes were covered in shadow. We played around some more, Piper putting both of her hands near my neck, then trailing downward with her fingers. Squeezing a little, fondling, all the way to my thighs, following with her eyes. When she looked back up to mine, a lopsided smile appeared on her lips, and she laid back down, covering her face against the sun.  
I reached for the controls, extending the holographic sunbrella fully over us. Settling back on top of her, some measure of apprehension settled over me, wasn't sure what I could do and what I couldn't, given our track record since the.. tragedy.  
\- " I'm sorry... " - she moved her arm just enough to narrowly glance at me - " The pumps are still out... "  
Smirking, I quipped: " Wouldn't be very practical right here right now anyway... "  
_I wasn't funny..._ \- " Just the.. the feeling is missing too, you know... " - she gestured, raising her hands, so I grabbed them, squeezing in a motivational kind of way, in my lap.  
\- " It will come back Piper.. "  
She smiled warmly, her eyes wandering to my body.., taking their sweet time. Pulling her hands away she propped on her elbows, looking me over again, I started to feel a bit self conscious, taking the towel from my head, letting it cover me a little...  
\- " What..? " - I asked, biting my lip.  
\- " Noo... " - she breathed faintly, taking the towel and pulling it away, leaning back down.  
\- " I feel a bit.. naked in this... "  
\- " I've always thought that was the point. "  
I was pulled down while chuckling, we made out briefly, then Piper turned her body, both of us shifting to lie next to each other. My head resting on her arm, the world seemed very comfortable. She began caressing my face, her eyes zapping to random points on my face, eventually boring deep into mine.  
\- " This is actually very nice... "

**«std::endl;**

We have spent a wonderful afternoon on the island. Drinking cocktails, eating something the translator insisted on calling 'iced cream' instead of gelato, or quite simply: icecream, even though that's exactly what it was. We talked and laughed a lot, mostly about the Academy actually, life on Earth. Her foster parents lived in the Manhattan Supercomplex, something very different from farm country. I found it quite fascinating how her description and stories felt like they were from a different planet. Thankfully, other than talking to the waiters we were left in peace, even took a trip up the hill of the island, having a few more cocktails in a bar at the top. I was sampling mostly the non-alcoholic versions, which were available in abundance, but I couldn't convince Piper about them. According to her they are about as useless as a third nipple. Furthermore, she can take a lot of 'the creature' without problems. I wasn't convinced about that, based on how she was turning sweeter, cuter and clumsier after every glass. Still managed to re-energize as we returned to the beach, obsessed about swimming back across.

Holding her hand and pulling toward the other direction didn't work, she was strong as a bull. It felt a bit awkward that as a captain I seem to lack the strength to divert a giggling girl. 'Girl'... When I tried to step in front of her and hold my ground, she picked me up... I laughed out too, suddenly holding onto her for dear life.  
\- " Seriously Piper, the sun's setting.. "  
\- " So what?! " - oh I how I loved her coy smile - " You're so lazy! "  
\- " I'm not lazy, it's gonna be dark soon! " - entering the water she stumbled, for a moment I thought the catastrophe was inavoidable, but I managed to put a leg down and stabilize the both of us, while she tuned an 'ooops' and giggled on...  
\- " Excuse me, are you swimming back? " - I heard from somewhere along the shore.  
Looking, it was a Valorian in the hotel's uniforms.  
\- " Yeah! " - Piper exclaimed.  
\- " Well if you aren't across by sundown we will pick you up, but that incurs a mandatory fee. "  
Damn, I was _so_ smart.. - " See? " - I opened my arms, shrugging at her.  
\- " Awww.. " - she flipped around, the sun was just about to turn turmeric - " That's like an hour from now! "  
\- " It's more about half an hour, maximum. " - the man corrected.  
\- " I'll be there in less than fifteen minutes... "  
\- " Piper.., it's over twelve hundred meters across. "  
\- " How long do you think I took on the way over? " - her turn to open her arms and shrug.  
\- " You weren't.. _tipsy_ then. "  
\- " _Tipsy_..? " - she giggled, tilting her head - " You think I'm tipsy?! " - approaching me, she put her hands around my hips, leaning very close - " Huh?! "  
\- " Yes, I think you're tipsy... " - we kissed, her long hair blown all over the place by the coastal breeze, making the experience sensational for me...  
\- " Come with me.. " - a whisper in my ear, making me seriously consider it.  
\- " I don't wanna race the clock Piper... "  
\- " Lazyyy..! " - she cooed, stepping away, fondling every part of me in the process, and leaving her glasses with me - " I'm gonna be there faster than the boats! "  
Dashing away into the ocean I was certain shouting after her would be pointless. Turned around to find our official, but he walked away in the meantime, patrolling the coastline by the looks of it. ~_I'm not gonna freakin' swim!~ ... ~I'm not gonna freakin' swim!~ ... ~I'm nn... oh for the love of...~_

**« std::endl;**

Twenty minutes to the kilometer is a reasonable time, assuming a good swimmer in good shape. While swimming on the holodeck is not the most satisfying experience I fancy myself an adept swimmer. As for my shape, well 10 months ago, not long after _the letter_ I was in a terrible one. Realizing that was precisely what made me change as much about myself as I possibly could. Unfortunately I still couldn't catch up to tipsy-Piper, but at least I was able to prove to myself I was a way cooler chick than I tended to assume. Toward the island I channelled the lady in me, swimming with my head above the water, not so on the way back. I used the straps of my bottoms to secure our sunglasses and went at it.  
My eyes burning from the salty water, being able to put my feet down again was such a blissful experience. More than half of the sun's deep turmeric disc still in the sky, I felt pretty good about myself. Piper was further out by then, slowing down and looking around, surely for me. With the last ounce of my strength I dashed along in the deep water, eventually calling out to her. Upon finally noticing me, her reaction was equal parts surprise and happiness. She ran back, instantly making the swim a worthwhile endeavor.  
\- " Bunnyyy! " - she tuned, wading toward me - " Whooo... " - hugging and grabbing me, we spun around - " Why didn't you call out or something..? "  
\- " Didn't think you'd hear me.. "  
She kissed me, smooching along my jaw, then sputtering the salty liquid with a grimace... I giggled, pretty much doing the same. Found it a bit offensive how she was barely panting and I was about to die, but what can you do. Being in shape doesn't equal being in soldier-shape. She was very proud of me, and that's all that mattered.

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~23~ :: Tipsy..._


	23. Tipsy

**.**  
**Chapter ~23~ :: Tipsy**  
**.**

We've decided to go for dinner, take a gander at another restaurant in the hotel. First, we've each taken a shower and spent an embarrassing amount of time getting ready. I was rushing it too, didn't want her to wait for me. Then upon entering the hall, I realized I'd be the one waiting for her. I have to say I've derived a bit of perverse fun from my date... let's just say: _the other person_ needing more time than me. I had been expecting at least one fancy dinner at our original destination, so I did have a more.., flaunting dress with me. Dinner might not be reason enough for a dress quite like this one, but we aren't at the spot where I'd be inclined to reveal what else was I expecting...

Eventually she emerged, barging into the kitchen, halting rather fast as she saw me.  
\- " Woah... " - her brows went up, mouth left open - " You're full of surprises, aren't you? "  
\- " Oh this ol' thing... " - I chuckled - " Simply the first thing I found... "  
She laughed, taking a long breath with her lower lip stuck between her teeth, then moaning exaggeratedly the same way, gazing at me, only not in my eyes. I waited, unmoving, grinning and feeling very good about myself. The dress was short, silhouetted, 'Captain-Beige' as I liked to call it. Its multiple parallel straps were supposed to be crossed at the front, still creating a very.. generous cleavage, especially with the invisible bra I had for it. Couldn't shake the self-consciousness stemming from how snug it was, everywhere, but Kitty assured me I looked quite ravishing in it.., and one look at Piper's face confirmed that.  
\- " That gap between your thighs... " - Piper shook her head - " If only I could do something about it. "  
Smiling, I didn't want to dwell on that thought - " Your hair looks amazing. "  
It was flattened on one side, pulled back tightly in rows, the rest of it combed the other way, straightened, not wavy any more. No wonder she took so long.  
\- " Well.., I try. "  
\- " You're still going to have me believe you don't know what you're doing... "  
\- " Mhmm.. "  
I loved her attire too, finally she wore black. A tight, although buttoned shirt, featuring squared shoulders and very short sleeves, with a faint chequered pattern and matching short shorts. No belt this time, the shirt barely reaching over the bottoms. I have to say I don't think I would've quite enjoyed her in dresses with cleavage or such, I think that would've been weird. But this kinda stuff, making her look all husky and awesome, it was really great on her. Especially with her tricorder strapped to her thigh, and a set of tight band-like bracelets on her opposite arm.

Instead of approaching me and smooching, as I imagined it in my head, she stopped by the fridge, fetching the bottle of booze. She was already chugging before I could manage to say anything, so I resorted to staring daggers at her, all the way through her funny grimace after the gulp.  
\- " _What?!_ "  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " Could you _not_ be a bitch about this for once?! "  
\- " Excuse me? " - I raised my voice - " Don't you think you've had enough? " - she merely shook her head - " Besides, we are going to a restaurant, you could just drink there... "  
\- " Did you do this to your ex-fiancé as well?! "  
\- " Why do you have to bring him up all the time?! "  
\- " Why can't you just leave me alone? Can't I decide what I put in my body?! " - she took another gulp, smashing it back into the fridge - " Seriously.., 'tis fuckin' ridiculous.. " - she mumbled barely audibly, walking past me.  
I counted in my head, taking a deep breath, making the conscious decision to let this go.  
\- " What's the tricorder for? " - I asked, struggling with keeping the contempt out of my tone.  
\- " Posterity..? "  
_~Oh, we're gonna take pictures, huh..?~_

\- " Have you sent pictures back home yet? " - she asked on the way to the elevator.  
\- " No... " - I breathed, actually thinking on that - " Well one, to my sister... So she could convince my mother I'm eating right. "  
Piper chuckled softly - " What about Mark? "  
_~If I had a slip of gold pressed latinum every time I guessed...~_ The way she pronounced his name with an exaggeratedly nasal 'm', followed by the flattest possible 'a' ever was always hilarious though.  
\- " No... "  
\- " Did he send you any? "  
\- " Yes. "  
\- " Oooh.., have we met the new Mrs? "  
\- " 've seen her, yes. " - I tried for a pokerface, glaring at the doors. Too bad a different set opened after the chime. The cabin was at least empty this time.  
\- " What's she like then? "  
I gave her _the look_ as an answer.  
\- " Could she pull off this dress? "  
\- " Err.., no. " - I failed to prevent my smirk.

The elevators all had mirrors all over them, from the floor to the ceiling, only the door wasn't covered with it, and the marble railing cut them in half.  
\- " Good... " - Piper called, pulling out the tricorder, turning me toward the side walls with her other hand firmly grasping my buttocks - " Maybe you can send them this one... "  
Overcome by a sudden surge of shyness, I looked away - " Piperrr.. "  
\- " Come on! " - wrapping the arm around me instead, she positioned herself more behind me, squeezing gently, compelling me to straighten up.  
Our height was in fact comparable in my million-inch f*ck me shoes. Actually, they were Kitty's million-inch f*ck me shoes, I called them heels. Anyway, as I found myself grinning and inadvertently looking directly at the lens through the mirror, she took the picture, giggled, while I mostly just mumbled something to myself.  
\- " Maybe send one where I do this... "  
Raising her arm further she cupped my boob and leant into my neck... I think I heard the click before I acted all appalled, when I was still smiling, enjoying her hot, wet breath on my skin... The damn elevator stopped early of course to pick up some other patrons, so we both snapped ourselves into order, lingering toward the corner. Piper still had an arm around me though, messing with the tricorder.  
\- " Do you take a lot of pictures? " - as if I didn't know.  
\- " Yeah... " - she canted down to my ear, whispering: " Lotsa' naughty ones too... "  
_Why have I ever expected to catch her off guard with my clandestine knowledge..?_ As if Piper of all people would have reservations about letting me, or anyone else know about the evidence of her exceedingly successful campaign on bedding half the crew... The thought that I was rapidly becoming a part of that didn't just fly past me. These two snaps left a lot more dignity than Ensign Sharr's pictures, but still.  
She grabbed the tricorder in both hands though, holding it up for me - " This one is getting on the next datastream... "  
\- " Oh no, it's not Piper... " - she meant the second one. It turned out much more compromising than I thought. And.., I had to admit, I loved looking at it.  
\- " Yuh-huh! "  
\- " Nuh-huh! " - there were like six other people in the cabin now, not that either of us gave a damn.  
\- " I take lots of selfies too you know.. perhaps I could include one of those... " - she slipped the gadget back onto her thigh - " _Perhaps_ one where... " - she leant closer again, directly to my ear - " I _illustrate_ how a standard handphaser is dwarfed by my stiff girlcock.. "  
\- " Piperrr! " - I poked her with my elbow, both of us bursting into giggles as her hug loosened around me, only to shift to the other side and tighten again, her face in my hair.  
\- " Oh come on, I bet that would ruin his day. Probably his week. "  
_~How'bout the rest of his life?~_ Kitty interjected. My eyes wandered around the cabin though, they might not have heard but we were talking about, but I did, so I was worried. Piper really wasn't kidding about everyone looking at us. What the hell?!  
\- " Ooh, that's our stop..! " - I exclaimed, in such relief we could get the hell out of there.

**«std::endl;**

The complex had a 'half split' perhaps the largest no-rooms level of the building. The restaurant we've picked wasn't the central attraction here, this storey actually had pools. Small, circular ones a very large, slightly secluded area housing them. Slightly secluded in the sense that the separating wall was glass. During my exploration and now in the evening too the place seemed popular, almost all of them occupied by half a dozen patrons or so. Some of them were bubbling, some had lots of foam, scantily clad waitresses running around with fancy drinks. It seemed like a fun place, unfortunately the chances of getting one such pool to ourselves felt astronomical, so I gave it up.  
The entire hotel has taken on a different ambience during the night, the lights fairly low, granting a vaguely ominous vibe, the clothing of the guests almost universally more proper. I thought my dress with its lovely floral patterns would do more than fit in here, if not for the fact that I've felt almost naked in it. Interesting though, aforementioned servers at the pools, and actually everywhere else, seemed to have come from the tall / slender / pretty variety, only the guests featured people uhm.., less so. Anyway, we have arrived at the restaurant, a line of patrons and one such lovely thing greeting us happily.

Apparently, we were supposed to have a reservation. Fortunately, there was some sort of system in place, the tables on this balcony were subject to a kind of bidding war. Piper quickly secured one of them though, all the while I held my tongue. The place was amazing, very cosy, mostly actual torches providing the lighting outside, the balcony having many artistically hung veils and sheets as a ceiling, all swimming in the warm orange colours of the flames. Our table had an elaborate floral arrangement, candles, everything really. While there were barely any unoccupied spots, the place remained sufficiently quiet and relaxed, sort of private too, thanks to the low illumination.  
Another lovely waitress came by shortly after we sat down.  
\- " Good evening, my name is Nyssi, I will be your server this evening. "  
\- " Hey Nyssi.., how are you doing? " - Piper was much louder while I mumbled my response...  
The girl appeared to be a bit taken aback by the gesture, smiling in her shy confusion - " Very well, thank you. " - as Piper just kept gazing at her I guess those eyes were having an effect on her, since she started stammering - " Uhm.., may I assume you're familiar with today's appetizer? "  
\- " I'm afraid I'm not... "  
_~We are not, you bitch!~_  
_Nyssi_ glanced at me, but Piper must've seemed much more interesting...  
The following conversation made me too angry to adequately remember it. I was able to extract the information that the dish would be 'Clovia clams' or something, the rest of it all was flirting. Successful flirting, I might add. I started listening again at the apéritif part.  
\- " Could you recommend something? "  
\- " Clovia clams are traditionally enjoyed with Thural spiced wine, but uhm.., it's not for everyone. "  
\- " Sounds excellent. "  
The girl smiled - " We carry both varieties: mild and harsh. "  
\- " Harsh. " - Piper answered immediately.  
\- " For both of you? " - she glanced at me. Wow, somebody still remembered I was here.  
\- " Yes. " - Piper added anyway.  
Nodding courteously and smiling exclusively at Piper, she excused herself. Of course she followed with her gaze, eventually settling on me. I'm sure on some level the unbridled flirting only made her more attractive to me, especially how successful her performance seemed to have turned out... But on every other level, I was pissed off.

\- " Couple of things.. " - I narrowed my eyes - " This sort of... indulgence with the money provided to us by the Armed Forces, or the government or whoever could be construed as uhm... "  
\- " Fun? "  
\- " Not the word I'd use. " - but her tongue-in-cheek grin was all I needed to forget about it - " Why would you presume I'm just as infatuated with alcohol as you are? "  
First she furrowed her brows, but then eased off - " I'm double-super-safety sure, mild or harsh had nothing to do with alcohol content, more like sweet or dry. "  
\- " So why do you think I like dry? "  
\- " 'Cause... I think you have a taste for the _finer things_. "  
Couldn't stop my smirk in time, glancing toward the ocean for a moment, looking back to find her grinning some more.  
\- " Did I pass? "  
\- " Haven't decided yet. " - why did she have a good answer for everything... And why was her glare just as irresistible to me as to that bitch?! .. I mean, girl.  
Speak of the devil, _Nyssi_ was back extremely quickly, bringing the drinks and the two sets of clams on their separate trays rather expertly. I didn't expect a thin girl like her to pull that off, couldn't help but admire her now. Piper remained quite full of herself during the exchange, except her target responded this time, with the cutest, most modest smile she could muster.  
\- " Thank you, Nyssi.. " - _yeah, call her by name, please..._  
\- " You're welcome.. " - she was blushing like crazy, tipping her head and leaving. What about the main courses? Weren't we supposed to order? Did she forget? I was absolutely certain she forgot.  
\- " I think she is ready for the pick-up line now. " - I spewed once she left.  
Piper snickered, her eyes flashing so coyly... - " I don't _do_ pick up lines. "  
\- " Oh no? "  
\- " No... I like to walk up to people, introduce myself, and tell them I find them very beautiful. " -  
_~Of course you do...~_ \- " Well I think she is ready for that too. "  
\- " Are you jealous? "  
\- " Well I don't like it. " - I blurted curtly, figured I would simply be honest. That's the correct way, after all.  
\- " Don't like what? "  
\- " You ogling every single girl worth ogling! And now this flirting?! "  
\- " Look, I can't turn _this_ off, okay? "  
_~Aww yeah, fuck you.~_ \- " Interesting, I thought it was constantly off, until you weren't drinking so much.. "  
\- " Oh, here we go... "  
We've spent the next many seconds looking away, sighing. I once again made the conscious decision to stop letting this ugliness take over. I wanted to have a good time, so I wouldn't respond as she obviously expected me.  
\- " You must've heard a few though? " - I reached for the bottom of my glass, playing with it on the table.  
\- " A few what? " - furrowing her brows, she tipped her head to the side. _Mission accomplished._  
\- " Pick-up lines. " - I held my glass up.  
\- " Mhmm.. " - she followed the initiative.  
We clinked them together, taking a sip. I guess calling the drink harsh wouldn't be very imaginative right? Sort of piercing, as if you would be swallowing a ball of sanding paper. I did like it though. Sometimes I enjoyed sweet and girly, but since I was pissed off right now, this was the definitive preference. It was clearly top shelf booze though. Certainly far from the replicated crap one grows exceedingly tired of on a starship. Only I hated the idea of Piper getting any more alcohol in her body.

\- " I heard a few. "  
\- " Which was the best one? "  
\- " Not sure about the best one, but one made me laugh.. "  
I made a suggestive quirk of my brows.  
\- " It's not really a pick-up line I guess, it's a question. ... Or a joke or something. " - she chuckled - " One night, in everyone's favourite _Sandrínes_, Ensign Cooper walked up to me, kinda tipsy, and asked: Why do you think you never see elephants hiding in the trees..? "  
I let out a lone chuckle, she did too, raising her brow.  
\- " I don't know.. "  
\- " Because they are really good at it. "  
My head canting forward I slowly started chuckling, holding the bridge of my nose - " That's terrible. " - I kept shaking uncontrollably though...  
\- " Well it got you laughing... " - she was giggling too.  
\- " Did it get you laughing? "  
\- " Yeah.. right until I told him the dick between _my legs_ is twice as big as his. "  
I chuckled again, this time burying my face in my palm.  
\- " He was so cute, confidently asking you know... '_How would I know?_' "  
I looked up at her again.  
\- " I had to tell him: that his previous sweetheart, Ensign Delaney, told me so herself. "  
Closing my eyes, I bit my lip, repeatedly, instead of laughing.  
\- " Did that happen in the Jefferies tubes? "  
\- " Nah, the other one. "  
\- " You've been with both sisters? "  
\- " Sure. "  
\- " Do you think it's uhm.. strictly strategical to brag to me about all this? "  
\- " Wha'..? Should I lie? " - she crossed her brows shrugging - " You're the one asking about it. "  
Unfortunately that was true. I reached for a clam. They were practically just like oysters.., I didn't like oysters all that much.  
\- " Hold on..! " - Piper exclaimed, grabbing her tricorder.  
\- " I don't think they'd serve them bad at a place like this. "  
\- " I'm taking a picture. "  
\- " I've never taken you for a gourmet enthusiast. "  
\- " Well I do like food... " - she winked - " The picture is for Neelix tho'. "  
\- " Neelix? Another person who's not your friend? "  
\- " He is not my friend. " - she took the picture meanwhile, grimacing at me - " He's fat, small, weak and timid. I don't like people like that. "  
My turn to knit my brows - " Don't you think that's a bit harsh? "  
\- " _The truth so often is._ " - she tuned.  
Swallowing that for the moment, I tilted my head - " Why are you taking a picture for him then? "  
\- " To show him.. " - she put the gadget away - " yet another dish he could make if the hydroponics bay was done right. "  
\- " Done right? "  
\- " Yeah with fish and stuff in actual tanks. The point of hydroponics is supposed to be that parts of the grown greenery feed the fish, their shit feeds the plants. "  
\- " Bon apetit.. " - I sighed.  
She sighed too, disillusioned dismissal on her face - " But he is doing it with synthetic stuff. Because hundreds of fish or clams or whatever in small dark tanks would be unhappy. Because he thinks their eternal souls would be suffering. Because he is an idiot. "  
I straightened up in my chair, folding my arms - " I'm not sure I'd be comfortable keeping fish like that. "  
\- " Well then you're an idiot too. "  
\- " Because I don't agree with barbarism? "  
\- " What barbarism?! " - she raised her voice - " They are fish! Did Chakotay's voodoo bullshit got to you too?! "  
\- " Ohoo, so you hate him too. Is there anyone you actually like on Voyager? "  
\- " No.., there isn't. " - she spewed, mocking of course - " Maybe you should've invited him on your vacation, so you could spend your time agreeing with each other! "  
My eyes narrowed, taking a breath, however I immediately shifted from trying to have an argument here. The last straw has thus been broken. I pushed my chair out and stood up.  
\- " Where are you going?! " - she seemed sufficiently taken aback...  
\- " Away from you. " - I replied curtly and strode away.

Can't say I wasn't apprehensive about her coming after me while I waited at the elevator, but she didn't. Even so, I didn't want to linger around our suite either, so I went to my room, closed the door and went to bed soon after. I never heard her come back, although I surprised myself by how fast I've actually fallen asleep.

* * *

**Continues in Chapter ~24~ :: Locker Room...**


	24. Locker Room

_**Author's Note:** This chapter earned the 11-12th grade result on the Dale-Chall readability test. All the others are 9-10th. I feel so smart now. A long one again though.  
_

**.**  
**Chapter ~24~ :: Locker Room**  
**.**

The fact that my dress was chucked down in the corner spoke volumes about how upset I was last night. My morning self felt a tiny bit silly. I'm sure it was Kitty's way too horny approach that made me think I overreacted. I believe the truth was simply that Piper's last comment hit a nerve, but it was hard for me to be certain it was intentional. Either way her general assholeness more than warranted what I've done, regardless of what Kitty might want. I intended to stay upset with Piper until she apologizes, the less than gratifying variable being that I really-really hoped she would to it quickly, so this state between us would go away already.  
As if reinforcing that, I got myself a mug of Piper's epic coco recipe. Valorians didn't seem to have an even remote equivalent of coffee, beverages with caffeine sure, all of them dreadful synthetic stuff or a juice. Apparently their most caffeine rich plant was a fruit as well. Even though I was nursing it for like fifteen minutes, Piper didn't emerge. So I got another one, and waited about five more minutes, rapidly starting to be disappointed in myself when she finally opened her door.

Glancing at me for a fraction of a nanosecond she slowly toddled into the kitchen, fetching a mug and getting the same beverage. The Valorian synthesizer didn't bother with plates, cups or utensils, you had to get those yourself. Which is precisely why it wasn't simple to teach it how to make this recipe. Something I remembered during the long silence. Piper had been crying, that much became obvious when she turned around, settling her coco on the counter between us. Her hair was a mess, the ... well I don't actually know what it is the hair multi-tool puts on to keep it in place, but half of it must've been gone, so the tightly bound locks were half-free now, culminating in an amusing bed-head. I felt even more guilty by now. Last night was still nowhere near what she went through. Why did I think I had any business being upset with her? This should've never been about me, it's about her.  
Either way, I stayed quiet while she took a sip and set the mug back down, wiping her lips. I was just about to take a more substantial breath when she started.  
\- " So.. " - clearing her throat, she carded through her hair a couple of times - " I've spent the past... hour.. trying to figure out what I should say to you. " - during the entire sentence she was gazing at my cup, glancing up at my face for a single moment by the end - " I guess it shouldn't be anything less than the truth. I've got into a really bad way.., after you've left. I hated you at first, assumed the attitude of _'haha, I told you so'_... As if that would... " - she shook her head chuckling faintly, disillusioned and bitter - " Anyway.., when I'm with the others, you know, so..: always, I can be like that.., harsh and having so much fun listening to my own voice at others' expense. This wasn't the first time I offended someone else, you know. But.., it _was_ the first time I've felt... mmhooo " - she looked away, wiping her face, taking a fresh, big - although quivering - breath. I wanted to interrupt her so bad, just flying across the island, kissing and hugging her, however I thought I needed to let her finish.  
\- " Kathryn.., " - glancing at me again for a moment, her eyes were filled with tears - " yesterday was so.. lovely.., nice. I.. I don't... " - sniffling, she wiped her face again, finally looking at me - " I don't wanna loose that. So uhm.., please forgive me. "

I left my chair at warp speed as it were, rounding the island.  
\- " Of course... " - I breathed, immediately hugging her. I liked liking her a lot more than being angry. After a few rapid gasps from both of us, she put me up on the furniture in one swift movement, missing her mug by half a centimeter at most. The inner edge of the counter was lower, but I still ended up sitting slightly taller than her. Piper hugged me so tightly and... fully.  
\- " I'm sorry I didn't want to cry... "  
\- " Shh.. it's okay... _I'm_ sorry... "  
\- " No, I... " - she pulled her face away an inch - " Please, I never wanted to hurt you by anything I've said.. "  
\- " I know.., I know Piper... " - we spent another few moments hugging.  
\- " I was fined yesterday. "  
\- " Hmm..? " - my face all wet too, I thought I heard her wrong.  
\- " I went somewhere.. I don't know, yelling and stuff. So I was caught by like.., security, they gave me a shot... "  
\- " Oh, Piper... "  
\- " They brought me back here, gave me some bottled drink.. "  
\- " Piper.., I'm so sorry.. "  
\- " Don't be, if I'm not an asshole.. I could've spent the night with you. I'm sorry.. "  
Enough ~_I'm sorry_~s for the week, we exchanged a few gentle kisses instead, our faces touching. Eventually Piper broke away for a few paper towels. I don't think we have used a single one of them to actually clean something up since we were here.  
\- " What did they gave you? "  
\- " Oh just some, you know, sobering thing I guess. The drink was good too, I drank it all before falling asleep. I feel fine now. ..Well, my body does. "  
\- " I never should've left you there... "  
\- " No.. it's.. "  
\- " No Piper. I shouldn't have. It's just.. what you said, I thought it was intentional, and really cruel. "  
\- " What do you mean? "  
\- " About Chakotay. You overheard us, didn't you? "  
\- " On Voyager? "  
\- " Yes. "  
\- " I only heard uhm.., like _'I've this splendid vacation planned and no one to go with'_ or something... "  
~_You should've kept your mouth shut Kathryn!_~ She glared at me for a few moments.  
\- " Wha'.. You really wanted to go with him? "  
I couldn't respond. Wiped my nose with a towel instead, trying not to look so incredibly tremulous...  
\- " The dress.., everything... _was for him_. " - she took a step back - " I'm... "  
\- " No.. " - I reached for her hands, pulling her back - " I mean.. I don't even know what I was expecting, if anything... But I'm glad about the way things turned out. " - _~How could I even say that?!~_ \- " I mean, only, you know, only the part about us. " - I pulled her even closer, smooching her lips - " You're not a substitute. ... " - my turn to stammer again, looking away for short moments - " I don't know what you are. I do know that.., I want to be as close as possible to you. "  
She swallowed, scanning across my face - " I feel the same way... " - the smooch she gave me ended about five minutes later.  
We both fetched our mugs, taking a few breaths, venting this emotionally highly charged atmosphere a little.  
\- " So wanna try those jets today? " - I asked her this time, surprisingly - " After some breakfast of course. "  
\- " Let's just grab a snack on the beach, wouldn't want to be too full for those... "

**«std::endl;**

Being a rocket-scientist I knew the definition of a jet engine is something along the lines of: a contraption that discharges reaction mass in a fast moving jet, generating thrust via the Newtonian laws of motion. That's a terribly boring way to describe what these 'totally kickass' (Piper's words) things did. Valorian technology as it turned out, relied heavily upon forcefields, they weren't only experts of holographics, but in fact anything that involved creating fields and surfaces whether you saw them or not. These WaveRiders as the translator put it, utilized forcefields to mimic or simulate, extremely fast moving rotors, creating wickedly powerful yet delicately controllable jets that could make the vehicle hover, and achieve extreme speeds above water. Now, at extreme speeds, water might as well be concrete, so as life vests we were given portable projectors, which could span a ball around you and temper the fall. We were still given helmets and other protective gear, and had to sit through a short seminar about driving them, finally signing a few waivers which basically stated that if we break every bone in our bodies, neither the rental service nor the manufacturers are to blame.  
By the time we got to sit on them Piper was beside herself, and I have to say I felt quite excited too, something about sitting in the saddle, holding such power between your legs... They looked really cool, one rotor on the front and two in the back, facing the water, and then an extra on the stern perpendicular to the others for forward thrust. Unsurprisingly holographics ingrained them too, you could pick the entire colour configuration for yourself, the colour of the rotors, the 'wings' which would appear as needed during usage... We were also wet already before getting on them, since the lovely instructor guys thought the best way to acquaint us with the protective forcefield-ball was to knock us off the jetty when we didn't expect it.

Despite all the rules and signed contracts, to the question 'how far can we go?' the answer was 'you know, not too far, just in case you get in trouble'. At least we could distance ourselves from other riders and really go at it. The controls felt reasonably intuitive for me, but I was a little apprehensive over how fast I'd actually want to go... We've seen some more experienced people the day before, and around us now, apparently you could do jumps with these things, or fly very close, flat to the water and go extremely fast... It was Piper from the two of us, of course, who tried something first. I'm not sure what it was, but she fell, violently, the WaveRider and her in the protective ball flying separate directions.  
I was afraid to even approach her, I expected to find pieces. Needless to say there was nothing wrong with her, if anything she was only more excited. The jet found its way to her via an autopilot engaging in these situations, the rotors seamlessly switching between air and water, submerging most of the vehicle, so getting back on it was virtually effortless. After that, I was little less tremulous over giving the throttle some meaner twists. And I after I fell for the first time, all inhibitions fell away.

I'm not sure how beneficial detailing the various stunts would be, suffice it to say this was the most fun I had since a very long time. Kinda sad, I had to realize that if we came here with Voyager in the first place, giving shoreleave to everyone, and I saw my crew trying this out, I'm absolutely certain I would've thought I'm too old for this stuff and never tried. Since this line of thought wasn't even remotely plausible with only the two of us here, I did try it, and it was amazing. We both crashed SO many times... The closer you are to the water the cooler you are, except if the flaps beyond the hind rotors 'kiss' a wave, the resulting rumble, if handled improperly, can cause the entire vehicle to go into such a violent spin, you feel it is nothing short of a miracle you are still alive afterwards. Anyway, we were at it for hours, I was pretty much unable to stand up in the saddle on our way back to the docks... The very specific, unusual extreme stress on my legs, my arms, my abs.., my _everything_ had me shaking. Tiredness aside, it was an incredible experience, I was very happy, and delighted to see Piper so happy too.

**«std::endl;**

The WaveRider emporium had its own locker room and shower cabins, so after drinking up a gallon of juice at the bar by the jetty, we retired there. We were clad in wetsuits and protective meshes, custom replicated for our dimensions. Gotta love advanced technology applied to the fullest in matters of convenience and luxury... Although I can't say these wetsuits were all that easy to get out of. Peeling them off was quite exciting though, Piper was pretty fast with hers, sitting down already, doing the legs by the time I freed my arms. Pulling it off my torso, my bikini was, of course, all over the place, and I noticed her staring as I adjusted it. Shyness struck, but I rather enjoyed the attention, so I didn't end up turning away or anything. Piper had a very entranced look on as well, her lips curving into a flirty grin, so I didn't think she would mind a little tease all that much. Ever since morning she felt less averse to physicality, so the Kitty in me succeeded in making me do things I'd have never done normally. As I continued, arching my back slightly while I pushed the fabric past my hips, Piper let go of her suit and straightened her back, eating me up with her eyes. I had these pleasant shivers coursing all over me, feeling so naughty yet so energized from this. Despite the crazy things appearing in my head I've opted for the tried and true, although not exactly breathtaking method of finishing up, I didn't want to fall over while trying to *do* sexy...

Giving her _the_ lip bite I deposited the suit on the bench and walked off into the showers. I thought it interesting male / female apartheid wasn't enforced, wasn't even possible, only one hall in existence. Every aspect of the entire hotel emphasized compatibility to any sort of alien race, I guess gender matters little when *people* - in the broadest sense - possess holes, scales, eyes or extremities in the unlikeliest of places. There were six cabins, each spherical and spacious, much like their counterparts in our suite. The first one on the left seemed to be occupied, the glass frosted. When I entered the one I picked, nothing happened, I could see the outside quite clearly still, and I highly doubted some one-way blockage would have activated. Shyness might seem a bit odd after what I've just done to Piper, but I wasn't keen on showing off for anyone who comes by. Showering in a swimsuit would be silly. By the time the rocket scientist inside me would have figured this out, Piper came in.  
Once she rolled the door back in its place she touched the holographics directly next to it. It depicted... like a nook or something, and a circular thingie in it. She swiped it to the other end, and would you believe it, the glass turned opaque. Huh. Well, she too was a rocket scientist. Anyway, I was more befuddled about her presence here. Needn't mention that my heart was already racing, her bikini clad body had that side effect even when I wasn't paying attention. But now I was paying all my attention, she seemed very.. intent on... on something. The question of '_how far can we go_' still had the sword of Damocles hanging above my head, so I didn't say anything, but activated the shower. Water came spewing in a million little strands, from a dozen nozzles in the ceiling, and all around at hip level, aimed at the center as well.

Slightly cold, but feeling perfectly mild a moment after, Piper stood into the pillar of rain in the middle, canting her face upward into the stream. My heart pounding in my throat I simply did the same. Said pillar was fat enough for the both of us to comfortably stand in it without touching the other, but I've felt her hands on me after mere seconds. Peeking narrowly in the downpour I saw her lean toward the controls, switching it up so that only the nozzle in the dead center remained active above us, and the ones all around turned a little weaker, covering us in this rather pleasant spray, mostly from the shoulders down. With the flow's quantity and location much more manageable, Piper snaked an arm around me, pulling close, our wet bodies touching everywhere, her thumb playing with the corner of my lips. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but I sensed something different about her, even from yesterday's tipsy-Piper. This got pretty much confirmed when our lips touched, the kiss deepening within nanoseconds, so lewd and ravenous...

I was too excited to think rationally for a while, but I was still able to surprise myself eventually, when I pulled away, afraid this would end in something similar to yesterday morning. I stumbled into a dead zone between two sets of nozzles. She followed me immediately, bumping into the wall together. Moaning first, then hissing from the cold touch, I was pulled back into her embrace. A hand sneaking over my butt, below the swimsuit, the other grabbing into my hair, it no longer felt prudent to ask if she was sure. Our bodies squeezed together again, and I felt it.  
Flinching away I glanced down, noticing a certain unmistakable bulge in her shorts. A rush of chuckles came over me...  
\- " What's that? " - I asked faintly, licking, biting my lip in anticipation.  
\- " Mmmhmmm.. " - she moaned, looking down herself, then back at me - " I'm not sure.. wasn't there a minute ago... " - such an alluring lopsided quirk on her brows.  
Pouncing at me, her hold became rougher, licking then biting into my neck. Yes, I was turned on, yes this was basically all I've been truly waiting for since we landed on this planet, but her demeanour quickly became overwhelming.  
\- " Slow down.. " - I breathed, getting completely ignored.  
Groping my boobs she squeezed hard enough for it to be painful and _not much else_.  
\- " Piper! " - I yelped, trying to shove her away - " Slow down! "  
Her posture eased, she opened her eyes.. Suddenly able to move her I pushed on, driving through a wall of sprayed water into the next dead zone, pressing her against the cold wall instead. Frickin' physics of evaporation just have to ruin everything... She cradled my face gingerly, a more cute than intense expression on her face, so I let her pull me close into a sweet smooch... Felt so wonderful.. like I'd have tamed her. Her fondling became gentler and slower, her kisses warmer and softer.

I felt her untie my bra, but instead of worrying about it, I did the same to hers, licking and gently suckling along the spots on her neck. That elicited the most alluring growls from her. While disposing of the garments, our bodies separated and I looked down again. That was no bulge anymore... Her bottoms of course tiny, couldn't contain her raging erection, her cock forcing the fabric away from her body, stretched to the extreme. As if to show it off, she straightened up, arching backwards, her hips coming away from the wall. Gasping, her hands left me, carding into her hair instead.  
\- " Piper.. " - I touched her bare chest with a few fingers, slowly travelling south.  
\- " I feel like I'm high.. " - she whimpered, turning her gaze back down to me, opening those huge eyes for what I could only interpret as an intense look of pure lust... - " Fhuuu... " - whining, she kept bringing her hips more and more forward.  
Her hand ventured down, grabbing herself, those little shorts were taking such punishment. She pushed them off, freeing her hardness. Letting out a few of those high-pitch moans I haven't heard for far too long, she kept stroking herself, squirming, I wish I could've felt what she did, it seemed like a lot of fun... When she finally let herself go, her cock snapped upward, swaying...  
_~Was that ever inside me?~_ I thought, unconsciously moving closer to her. She pushed us both into the shower, but the fondling and the kissing didn't last very long, she undid the straps on my bottoms on one side.  
\- " Take 'em off.. " - she breathed into my ear.  
Inadvertently I glanced toward the door - " This is a public... "  
\- " Take them off... " - stumbling away, she followed her own advice.  
I may have spent an entire nanosecond weighing the situation, then ripped mine off too.  
\- " C'mere.. " - she pulled me in, her back toward the wall in another dead zone. Spinning me around so my back would be toward her, she lowered her hip so... her hardness would go between my thighs. At first I thought it would be something more.. to the point, a fright coursing through me, but when I realized filling the gap between my thighs was all she wanted... It was so erotic, felt such a hot rush I thought I'd start sweating despite the cool sprays. Especially with her arms locking around my body, her mouth on my neck, flicking the wet hair out of the way.  
\- " Piper..! " - I yelped, not exactly sure why, a little surprise, a lot of lust, a little apprehension, a lot of pleasure... I wanted to touch her too, one hand going up into her hair, the other to her thigh, behind me.  
\- " You are so.., incredible... " - she husked, groping my boobs, pinching them.., turning my head a little I could glimpse her looking down at me - " These huge sexy nipples teasing me all day in that bikini... " - chuckling and purring I squeezed my body into hers, enjoying her cock twitch in sync with her moans... Wow it was so warm, so hard... I closed my knees together, Piper even made a few thrusts... My inhibitions gone thanks to all the sensations overloading my brain, there was plenty of her peeking out from my crotch, so I grabbed it.  
\- " Mhmm.. you like that?! " - her reaction came immediately..  
\- " Mhmm... " - I moaned my response, that was all I could do while staring down between my tits to see her hardness in my hand.  
\- " You like my girl cock? " - she didn't give up, licking, nipping at my neck.  
\- " Yes..! "  
\- " You wanted to see it hard again?! "  
\- " Yes! ..Did you?! "  
\- " Oh you have _no fucking idea..!_ "  
We both chuckled as she squeezed me tighter, thrusting again... I literally felt the temperature increase, getting a little dizzy myself, my fingers exploring her the tip more closely, touching her flesh. Suddenly, she jolted with such force, flinching...  
\- " Oooh..! "  
\- " S.. "  
\- " It's so sensitive... " - she moaned, immediately resuming the groping.  
Eventually I became much too needy, I wanted to eat her up too, so I freed myself enough to turn around, get off her stiffness, hug her body, lick her neck. Feeling Piper like this, every part of our bodies touching made me so hot and horny, I couldn't get enough of her. We stumbled into the pillar of water following her lead, and once we were sufficiently soaked I pushed her out, toward the soap dispenser. Getting some in both my hands I started on her most important part.  
\- " Ooh fhuu.., bunny! " - she canted into the wall, her arms opened along it too - " Yeahh..! " - her snickering next to that intense expression was the best motivating response I could possibly get. Not that I needed it all that much, it felt so good, stroking her. She filled my hands, I could feel the texture of the veins, how she was all worked up for me... I've taken to smooching her chest, her perfect little tits, lifting and sinking with her gasps.

I leaned away a little, keeping up my two handed manual labour, so she could see it, see my eyes while I was doing it... She was moving her hips constantly, swaying and rolling, oh I loved doing this to her. All soaped up and foamy now, I spread some of it to her crotch, to her abdomen...  
I've been focusing all my efforts on the shaft though, and I had to think giving the tip some very pointed attention would up the game. Stepping closer, I let it arch skyward more, pulling back the foreskin, letting my hand slowly caress over the exposed area... Her abdominal muscles tightened, ever new kinds of little moans escaping her lips. She hissed, biting them...  
\- " Does it hurt? " - I asked, easing my grip completely.  
\- " No... " - Piper struggled to widen her eyes at me - " It feels so good bunny... " - cradling my face she leaned down - " Too.., good.. " - in the following while, she whispered various iterations of 'that's just the spot' in my ear about ten thousand times, kissing and nipping constantly.  
Eventually she bit me harder, pulling away:  
\- " Stop..! " - she gasped - " Stop, stop, stop... " - I watched with great pleasure as her eyes went up, her body trembled repeatedly - " Aww fhuu.., bunny... " - refocusing on me again, we shard a deep gaze, I was grinning as she played with my lips with her thumb - " You're enjoying this, aren't you?! "  
\- " Oh, I am Piper... " - I started again, eliciting another gasp, more mewling - " I'm enjoying it so much.. "  
\- " Aww you bi... " - she pushed us into the water again, washing away all the soap.  
I myself switched to groping her in other places, licking over her spots here and there.., I think she liked that. Her cock remained so rock hard, squeezed between our bodies though, I couldn't go too long without grabbing and teasing her more. Moving out of the pour again, the absence of the soap created a markedly less slippery feel, so I spit in my palm, spreading it on the tip... I did that so automatically, I even scared myself. Piper really, _really_ liked it though, moaning, letting me smack her against the wall again.  
\- " Nghh.. bunnyyy..! " - she mewled, I growled back at her, both my hands jerking her rock hard erection.

I was interrupted again however, this time Piper grabbed my wrists, pulling my arms away, leaving her stiffy arching toward the sky. All related muscles were tightened, I could see it throb, rapidly glancing between her face in beautiful agony and her nether regions. Her grimace didn't last long though, her cock started to twitch, sway, _frickin' bounce_, first a thick strand of white liquid flowing down along the bottom of the shaft, then a few enormous blasts erupted... Piper groaned aloud, the spasm rocking her entire body, as she grabbed her cock, jerking hard. I had the same idea, pouncing with both my hands, actually bumping my body into hers, her climax initiated such a rush in me too, a tingling buzz throbbing in my center.  
Piper was so loud, the constant intensity driving me crazy, her cum spurting everywhere, onto her, onto me, flying past us... I started to giggle, I've experienced her _volume_ before, but this wasn't something that turns uninteresting after the first time. Her giggling kept getting interrupted by her cries of pleasure, her moans.. Our front sides looked reminiscent of excessively wasteful soap usage, her orgasm lasted so long, and seemed to never intend to end, even though the bigger shots ceased, I could still feel more and more cum oozing onto my hand, as I kept constantly fondling the very tip of her cock.  
\- " Stoooop... " - she yelped at a high pitch, gasping - " Ooohh fuck, bunnyyy..! " - I eased up, pulling a little away, watching, revelling in her agony.  
The last reverberations ripping through her body, I took a step back, letting go of her, looking over my cum covered body, then eyeing her doing the same with her hands in her hair.  
\- " Ooohh, Kathryn..! " - she kept on gasping - " Ahh.. "  
\- " Now I know why you had such an appetite.. "  
Piper laughed, venting - " Awwh, I'm sorry... " - she snickered - " Apparently I'm not fully restored yet... "  
\- " Oh I think you are... " - I pressed into her again, groping, licking her body..  
\- " Well I used to have more tolerance you know... Maybe even attempt to satisfy the other party.. "  
\- " I'm quite satisfied Piper... That was a lot of fun... " - I husked, tiptoeing to her, finally she embraced me too, starting a hot make-out session - " At least we have time to go up to our suite... "  
\- " Yeah.. " - she giggled - " With someone so marginally attractive as you, it should take an entire two seconds for me to be diamond hard again... "  
My giggling turned rapidly into a passionate licking and smooching marathon that took us through most of the shower cabin, eventually washing off all of Piper's milk, and as predicted her erection returned to full strength, throbbing there between our bodies, wanting more and more...  
\- " Let's go up _bunny_... " - that was the first time I called her that, her insistence finally getting to me.  
\- " Awww, _bunnyyy.._ " - she cooed - " Why..? "  
\- " I think there isn't a single person in this place who didn't hear you, and I want to get comfortable. "  
\- " Yeah..?! You want to feel those soft cushions while I return the favour?! "  
\- " Yes... "  
\- " Seeing how we are here though... " - she leant away, getting some soap - " There is no reason not to wash up properly... "  
My response was a husky groan...  
It's very difficult to focus on cleaning yourself with Piper's perfect body and massive stiffy around you all the time, as she is soaping up, fondling your every erogenous zone, therefore I'm not sure how much time we've spent getting clean, but none of it felt wasted. Oh and that bit about me being tired? Forget it. I sure did.  
When finally we shut off the shower, flicking the water off our bodies, Piper still had her handicap. She was standing by the door, wringing the water from her long hair, her naughty bit ever arching toward the ceiling. It was such a lewd sight, I loved looking at her, all sorts of things being imagined in my mind... Then she put her hand on the holographic lock-thing.  
\- " Wait..! " - I stepped next to her.  
\- " What..? "  
\- " Uhm... " - I had our swimsuits in a ball in my hand, motioning toward her obvious part.  
\- " You think there's a chance that's going away? "  
\- " There are people out there.. "  
\- " They'll be very jealous of you then... "

_Why did I ever expect a different response from her..?_ Thankfully, as the glass became see-through again, there was no one in immediate sight. As we emerged however, there were two Valorian ladies by the doorway, mocking about with the lotion dispenser. They already had towels wrapped around them, but I recognized their crazy neon-coloured hair from earlier, out in the ocean. Of course they turned, glancing back toward us.  
Towels were available in abundance on racks wedged between the shower cabins, so I tried to make those few steps as fast as possible. Forget Piper, I was naked too, that made me much more self-conscious. Hard to describe this scene... Piper was of course pretending to be completely unaware of anything that could've possibly been going on, I know because it was obvious.. The two girls glanced, then turned away, then turned back, glancing at each other, then at Piper again... I didn't see half of this but their body language was a dead give-away whenever I did look their way. I threw a very large towel at Piper, but of course she put it on her head first, drying her hair, most of herself still sort of exposed within the hanging folds. We were slowly walking toward the same doorway, the girls eventually glanced at me glaring at them, snickering at each other, biting their lips, then skipping away...  
The old Kathryn Janeway inside me was in constant double red alert, but I have to admit, this was a lot of fun. Surprisingly, even I felt like I don't need to make double super safety sure that I'm fully and completely covered, this whole situation was boosting my self confidence as well. I knew that Piper found me very sexy, evidence of that was available in abundance, especially now... I realized that warranted pride, I've felt beautiful and desirable... Nevertheless this didn't turn me into an exhibitionist right away, it was a rather complex emotion, but still, I felt great about myself.  
Anyway, Piper approached the same station.  
\- " What's up? "  
\- " I'm getting some lotion? " - she glanced over, the towel more or less covering her now, except now there was no one left to see - " That soap is some hardcore stuff. "  
I had this sort of divine impulse to ask: " Where are you going to put it on? "  
To clarify, these dispensers had scanners on them, like I said, the hotel was made ready for all sorts of aliens. The soap, the lotion, I think even the water fountains (yes, there were bars everywhere, but water was free, which carried weight around here) contained scanners. The freshly replicated whatever coming from the machines then, was made specifically for you. These lotions came in their own little plastic baggies.  
Piper shrugged - " Well, the lockers I guess? "  
\- " Errr... " - I pretended to be thinking about this... - " No. "  
\- " What..? " - she giggled - " Come on, Kathryn... "  
\- " Do you want me to uhm.., help? "  
\- " Yeah... " - she husked, giving a most coquettish smile.  
\- " Then get back to the cabin! "

**«std::endl;**

So after spending a good twenty minutes getting each other thoroughly lotioned up, we exited the cabin once more. All the making out and the groping put the whole _'let's get back to the suite_' plan in jeopardy on more than one occasion, but luckily the shower cabin was uncomfortable enough for me so that the thought of our bed, or the couch, or anything up there would keep me true to my determination. Piper was moaning about it of course, but eventually she was able to see things my way.  
She never stopped being rather excited for me, so this marked the first time I wished her clothes weren't so damn tight all the time. Of course she got down here in nothing but her bikini, with the bite-sized boyshorts, we didn't even leave anything in her locker other than her slippers. At least all such lockers came with a device able to dry clothes in a matter seconds, so I put mine back on too, along with an airy, light dress. I had to fight her to do that though, because she couldn't keep her hands and her lips off me..  
\- " Can we go already..? " - she moaned, her back resting on her locker door, pulling on my dress..  
\- " What about that..? " - I hinted at her problem, namely the massive goo-bazooka stuffed into her bottoms...  
\- " I can't really turn it off.. " - pulling me in, she grabbed my butt, kissing along my neck..  
\- " Perhaps if you'd stop licking me.. " - I giggled.  
\- " Do you want me to stop licking you? "  
\- " Uhm.. " - I couldn't stop myself from touching her, moaning faintly at all the pleasurable sensations, not to mention how turned on I actually was. Except my such condition wasn't obvious from a mile away.  
\- " Come on let's just go..! "  
I couldn't very well mention anything that would remind her of.. well of everything. She was obviously so happy and careless, I'd have felt terrible if anything I said would've snapped her from this mood. But then, I couldn't let her waltz across the beach like this either. Towels!  
Being the _smartypants rocket-scientist_ that I am, I could evaluate all the tools at my disposal, so at an opportune moment I ripped myself away from her, grabbing a towel of the biggest kind, wrapping part of it into a loose roll..  
\- " What are you doing? "  
\- " I'm making a skirt... " - leaving the rest hanging, I wrapped it around her waist, making the biggest, most convoluted knot at the front, concealing her massive stiffy, or at least making it indiscernible from the random folds and creases.  
\- " Ooohh.. " - Piper posed in my newest design - " Can we please go now?! "  
\- " Yes-yes, come on! " - I realized I would have to be the adult here, intertwining our hands I pulled her away.

Payment and such wasn't so simple for the WaveRiders, most things like the restaurants, their balconies, even the bars were operated by the scanning pylons which we didn't need to care about. There were no pylons here, we were given a Valorian equivalent of a PADD at the reception desk, well we were given two, but Piper had other things to worry about... The girl behind the counter was very scantily clad, just like us, and she was fit as hell, obviously into sports and stuff working at a place like this. Unlike yesterday's tipsy-Piper flirting with the waitress, today's horny-Piper basically didn't even look at her, making me feel even prettier.. I sat up on one of the stools lining the long curved counter with the two PADDs, Piper hugging me from behind...  
\- " We have to fill these out.. "  
\- " Why?! "  
\- " Piper.. "  
\- " We already signed stuff.. "  
\- " This looks like a questionnaire about the quality of their services... "  
\- " 10 out of 10, everything, come on! "  
I noticed the two girls from earlier on the other end of the curve, filling theirs out, when they weren't glancing at us. Those weren't the stares of the average prudish patron though... I grinned to myself, quickly flicking through the form, much along the lines of Piper's instruction, I had the same idea after all. It ended with a space for our own worded review.  
\- " Put: WaveRiders restore sexual potency and cause stronger, longer-lasting, more vaso-dilated erections. " - Piper joked, apparently reading ahead from above my shoulder.  
We both burst into giggles, but then the sentence appeared on the PADD. In fact, on the one under my name! She laughed even harder, while I died a little inside. Damn advanced technology!  
\- " Nooo, how do I delete this?! "  
\- " Nu-huh, you won't! " - Piper held me back, touching the accept button, causing the entire display to shift to some big 'Thank You!' sign.  
\- " Piper! " - I yelped, chuckling uncontrollably the next moment.  
She hit the same button on the other, flicking them along the counter, pretty much knocking me out of the chair.  
\- " We are done! Thank you..! Bye-bye..! "  
I gave up, just giggling with her, adding my bye-byes, waving, everyone within earshot smiling, waving and returning the gesture...

**«std::endl;**

Through some extraordinary turn of circumstances we've managed to get the elevator all to ourselves. Piper's apparent insatiable desire to grope and kiss me could reign free once the doors swirled shut. Actually, by then I was already up on the railing, with her between my legs. She was such an amazing kisser, played around so much, gentle but mostly wanton and aggressive...  
She sighed, moaning - " I'm so hungry... "  
\- " We can stop at the restaurant if you wan... "  
\- " Your pussy is all I want... " - she resumed smooching me after every sentence.  
\- " Awh, Piper... " - I still cringed a little shyly, any time she would say something lewd like that.  
\- " Mhm.., tell me.. " - she chuckled softly - " Did uhm, _Mark_ ever make you cum? " - that long, flat 'a' still cracked me up.  
\- " Well.., he did. "  
\- " _Well_, huh?! " - she giggled... Her hands going from my hips to my chest, from my thigh to my butt, the way she pressed me into the mirror of the cabin, her wet lips exploring from my shoulder to my cheek.. she enveloped all my senses, I loved it so much.  
\- " Did he make you squirt? "  
\- " Pip... ahh.. I can't do that... "  
That made her bring her face in front of mine, glaring in my eyes - " Every girl can. "  
There was such conviction in her voice, I suddenly found myself unable to reply.  
\- " It's the best thing about human chicks.. " - yeah, I was just _a human chick_, not the captain of a starship or anything serious.  
She gave me a wet kiss, moving down to my neck, I could glance into the mirror on the other side, see her between my legs, leaning into me, groping... It looked like it felt good, And oh boy, did it feel frickin' great!  
\- " I'm gonna have to show you a brand new world... " - she breathed into my ear, as if I needed anything more to boost my anticipation.  
\- " Piper... " - I moaned, but then the lift stopped, so suddenly, the inertial dampeners were better than Voyager's...  
The doors swirled apart, we were on the level of the central split, eager hotel dwellers swarming the cabin. I quickly slipped off the railing of course, but there wasn't a single one of them unaware of what we've been doing. Forced into the corner, Piper pulled me in front with my back toward her, squeezing our bodies together, her hands never leaving me. Thanks to the big knots on her skirt-towel, I couldn't be sure which bulging hardness in the small of my back was her and which was merely fabric... Just as we started moving again, she began smooching my shoulders, at first I closed my eyes, the pleasurable sensation throbbing through me, but then they snapped open, and I realized from glancing into the mirror next to us, basically everyone was looking at what we were doing...  
\- " Piper... " - I turned my body, twisting my neck, putting a hand on her cheek I tried to gently push her away - " stop.., people are staring. " - I whispered quiet enough so only she could hear it, right in her ear.  
\- " Whatever, they hate you 'cos they ain't you... " - her response was on a regular personal speaking volume, all but echoing in the lift..  
While I've felt embarrassed I couldn't help the snorty giggle, glancing over all the disapproving expressions through the mirror.., all those prude buffoons... Piper wrapped those strong arms around me, pulling me back, flush up against her... Forgetting the outside world and the loosers in it, I couldn't help lifting my head, hissing and moaning, quietly, trying to bite back most of it. The cabin was deathly quiet, every little naughty noise echoed, to add insult to injury Piper moaned faintly a couple of times... I would have been laughing out loud if I didn't have something better to do, it was scary how much I enjoyed being inappropriate.  
The elevator stopped several times, people boarding and taking off... There was this woman standing in front of me, I could glimpse her face in the thin, still mirrored part of the doors' side across from me. I had a strong suspicion I've seen her before, on our level.  
\- " Do you mind? There are children in here! " - she snapped, not turning, but glaring at Piper through the same mirror.  
\- " Heavens forbid they should see two people showing affection for one another..! " - that retort... made me want her even more.., if that was even possible. Although, in all fairness, she was groping my breasts, and I think her tongue was visible as she licked beneath my ear...  
\- " There is a time and a place for that! " - this woman.., she was older, her man too, they had separate bedrooms, that much was obvious to me already.  
\- " Are we going to have a problem? " - I felt Piper lift from the railing, straightening up. Her tone chilling the air, while before the old lady had most of the cabin passively supporting her, now I got the vibe that everyone else decided not to be a part of this conversation.  
While crazy Kitty would have enjoyed watching Piper smack both their pompous arses, I turned around, reaching for her cheek, turning her head toward mine.  
\- " Shh.. it's not worth it. " - I whispered.

Once again, she _let me_ tame her, just like in the shower... Lowering to the adjacent railing, she put her arms back around me, smiling, completely ignoring everyone else. I tipped my head against her chest, hugging and letting this wonderful feeling flow through me...  
The elevator stopped at least half a dozen times still, eventually only us plus Mr. and Mrs. Buzzkill in the cabin. They were so ready to escape, waiting right by the exit, while I locked my arms above Piper's shoulders, making out again, since I couldn't help myself. Finally upon arrival we stumbled out behind them, still very much intertwined, giggling. I loved being stupid with her, feeling how into me she was, all this unbridled sexuality. So liberating, so amazing, so much fun...

* * *

_Continues in Chapter ~25~ ..._


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